Maverick Hunter Academy
by mariannesinger16
Summary: I need to stop writing fanfictions for this game series. Ever wondered how X became a Hunter? Well this story will tell you how. It's taking a cliche idea and turning it into something original. Also tells how X and Zero met! Chapters 1-11 are my original work, chapters 12-15 are a parody of the OVA Day of Sigma and Mega Man X1. I own nothing except the story for Chapters 1-11.
1. The bet

X's p.o.v.

This is the story of how I became who I am today. Who am I? You've probably heard of me, I'm Maverick Hunter X. Well, I wasn't always a Maverick Hunter. In fact, believe it or not, I was a huge dork back before I became a Hunter. Don't believe me? I don't blame you. Even my best friend doesn't believe it, and he was there. Anyways, you want to know how I became a Maverick Hunter, don't you?

I remember it like it was yesterday. I was the start of this race, and I was living with the man who'd found me, Dr. Cain. It was a sunny afternoon, and I was scrubbing away at the wall.

"Hey, X."

"Hmm? What is it, Doctor?"

"Uh, I know you've been living with me your whole life, a-and I really enjoy your company-"

"You're throwing me out," I said. "Why?"

"Um, well... I've decided that, well, you should start living on your own."

"Dr. Cain, you know I don't do well around other people."

"Which is exactly why you need to go," he said as he put his hand on my shoulder. "I've been keeping you up in here for so long that you're scared of the world. It's about time you see what the place I've been keeping you from is like."

"But... what am I supposed to do?"

"... I believe you'll find something to do."

So, completely ignorant and nervous of what I'd find, I stepped out into the world. I slowly walked away from Cain's lab while looking around for something.

I heard a noise. I lightly gasped and hid behind a wall. Turns out, the noise was just a passing human and Reploid's footsteps. I sighed in disappointment.

"What's wrong with me?" I asked as I slid down the wall into a sitting position. "Footsteps scared me half to death... Dr. Cain, I trust you more than any human or Reploid ever, but... what the hell were you thinking?"

Zero's p.o.v.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it! I'm late for a very important date!"

I put my Chaser Bike to a sudden stop when I finally reached Maverick Hunter Academy. It was sharp enough to bring my hair over my face, much to my annoyance, but I didn't pay much mind to it as my mind was focused on getting into training on time, so Commander Sigma wouldn't kill me.

When I finally got into the Academy, I sighed in disgust when I saw my purple rival standing across from me.

"... Bucket head."

"Rapunzel."

"So have I missed anything important?"

"Ehh, not really. Just the shooting drill, which you're always gonna suck at, me flirting with Iris, and the one hundred push-up thing... So no, I don't think you missed any-"

"Repeat that second one again," I said with a glare in my eyes. "What were you doing with Iris?"

"What? I was just moving into her territory. No one else was doing it."

My hand twitched towards my saber.

"Stay away from my girl, Vile."

Vile laughed.

"You snooze, you loose, Rapunzel. Now that I've got her in my grasp, I'm not handing her over to you."

I gripped my saber and growled.

"Stay away from her...!"

"Heh heh heh. Well, if you really want her so badly, then how about this? I'll lay off of her and let you do all the hittin', if you can do the impossible. Turn a timid and weak coward into the best Hunter in this Academy."

"What? How the hell do you expect me to do that!? I'm still a student myself!"

"I don't expect you to do that. Alright then, it looks like Iris is mine-"

"Wait! ... I'll do it. It'll take me a while, though."

"Ha ha ha! Good luck, Rapunzel."

"Thanks, bucket head."

So, after the training was over, I wandered the streets at late night looking for an underdog. I was so busy looking, I didn't even notice the crowds of females swooning over me until one tried to slip her hand into mine. Yeah, they're pretty annoying, and to this day I still don't know why they nearly died.

"Come on," I mumbled. "I can't loose Iris to bucket head of all people, so where's my key to success?"

I looked up and saw a blue Reploid pressing his back against a building. He slowly took a step forward off of the wall with an excited smile on his face. The door to the building opened, causing him to lightly scream and go back to the wall.

"Hello, key to success!" I thought.

X's p.o.v.

I took another step off the wall.

"Hey there!"

"AH!"

I almost fell over. I felt my eyes widen at the sight of the Reploid in front of me.

 _Maverick Hunter Zero!_

"Hi," he said. "Need a hand?"

I felt safe around the famous student at Maverick Hunter Academy, so I slowly put my hand in his. He pulled me off the wall, and gestured me to follow him. I still felt scared of the world ahead of me, but I thought I would be safe if I was with him.

He didn't talk for me for a while, he just continued to escort me away from the wall.

"Um..." _He's not a Maverick Hunter yet, he's just a normal guy, introduce yourself._ "You're Sub-Zero, right?" _DAMN IT!_

"I'm Zero, yes."

 _... Go with it._ "I'm uh, M-mega Man X... I-it's..." I slowly held out my hand, but not too far from my body, and I didn't even look him in the eye. "n-nice to meat you, s-sir."

He shook my hand with a chuckle.

"Ha ha! No need to call me sir, kid, I'm only 17."

For the first time all day, I felt myself crack a smile. He was only a few years older than me. I slowly looked up at him with a spark of hope in my eyes.

"You-"

He grabbed me.

"Hey! You wanna be a Maverick Hunter!?"

"Um, no thank yo-"

He got up in my face.

"Yes! You're perfect Hunter material!"

"Umm..."

"Yeah, come on! I'm sure Commander Sigma will let you sign in-"

"I can't stand fighting or any kind of violence!" I yelled.

"Holy crap," Zero breathed. "You're absolutely perfect!" He grabbed me by the arm and ran off with me. "Let's get going!"

"I-I said I don't... I don't want to hurt anyone...!"

The rest of my words were mumbled down in a whisper. I doubt he would've taken my words into consideration even if he had heard me. The next thing I knew, I was in front of the famous Maverick Hunter Sigma.

"This kid?" he asked. "He doesn't look like Hunter Material."

"I don't want to be apart of any violence..."

"Trust me, commander! He'll be great!"

"I don't want to hurt anyone."

"I'll be sure to help him out, too!"

"Don't be too confident about that, Zero, you're still a rookie yourself, even if you are one of the best students here at the academy. But fine, I'll enroll him."

"Ha ha! Thanks, commander, sir."

"Please don't."

And then the next thing I knew, I was in a room with two sleeping pods.

"I was living here by myself for a while, but you can share a room with me."

I stared at the pod for a while. I couldn't comprehend what had happened that day. The man I considered to be my father had thrown me out, I met a member of Maverick Hunter Academy I admired, and the next moment I was enrolled in the Maverick Hunter Academy, the last place anyone would expect to see me.

"... Why?" I asked. "Why did you ever think enrolling _me_ as a Hunter would be a good idea?"

"Hey, weather you believe it or not, you're actually helping me out. If I can make you the best student in the Academy, I'll be relieved of humiliation."

"But I can't be!" I cried. "I'm scared of the world. I'm programmed with a Buster, but I never use it... I hate this war. Why are humans and Reploids fighting? And why are Reploids fighting each other?"

Zero chuckled.

"I can gurantee I'll change that attitude of yours by the end of the month!"

"I wouldn't bet on it..."

"Well, fuck you, I already did." He got in his pod. "Now get some sleep, we've got a long day of training tomorrow." The lid closed.

I thought I could use the moment of him being asleep to get the hell out of there, but something was keeping me put. I knew if I stayed, I would be in for a world of hurt, but I felt safe. I felt there was a person I could trust there in the Academy, and that they would protect me. And where would I go if I left? This was the only place for me.

I got into the pod and watched the lid close. I knew this was the path I had to follow. I knew it would be a bit scary, and it would hurt, but if I had to find something to do with this pathetic life, it might as well be useful to society. Being a Reploid, I would live forever, and I didn't want to spend forever doing nothing.

 **Author's note: Remember when I said you probably wouldn't be getting any Mega Man fanfictions from me for a while? Well, I came up with this idea over night, and thought I'd put it to use. I need to get a life. T - T So, I have the beginning and end planned out, and I have an idea for an event in the middle, but the rest of the middle I need to work on. Wish me luck. =D**


	2. The students

X's p.o.v.

I woke up to gentle knocking on my pod.

"Hey, it's time to go!"

At first, I didn't know who was knocking or why they were knocking. Then I remembered the events of the day before, I was signed up to be a Maverick Hunter by the famous student Zero. I was a little disappointed it hadn't been a dream, I really didn't want to be apart of any violence.

"Hey!" The knocking grew louder. "It's time to go! Don't make me late!"

I opened the lid and sat up.

"Good! You're finally awake. Now come on, Commander's gonna kill me if I'm late again!" He practically dragged me out of his dorm.

The entire ride on his chaser bike there, I was clinging to him as if my life depended on it. We weren't even going that fast, but to my surprise, he really didn't mind that I was holding on so tightly.

We came to a slow stop when we reached a red light. I loosened my grip slightly and gasped for my breath back when I felt a stern hand touch mine. Out of reflexes, I activated my Buster. Zero held it up and turned it over, examining it.

"You never use this?"

"I-it's green."

My grip around his waste tightened again as he zoomed forward on the streets.

"Thanks," he said suddenly. "Thanks for agreeing to train at the Academy."

"You dragged me into it," I muttered quietly.

"Believe it or not, you're really helping me out." He didn't hear me... "If I can turn you into a skilled Hunter, then I'll get my rival's hands off of my crush. I know this is pretty selfish, but I promise I'll make it up to you someday." There was something soothing about his voice.

"I'll do my best," I said happily. "I hope your crush is interested in you."

He chuckled. "Thanks. And don't worry about the training at the Academy, I'll help you as best I can." I felt my smile grow. I'd never felt so safe, or warm. "There's something that you should know about the Academy, though."

"What?"

"The students are uh, a bit crazy..."

I gulped. "Wh-what type of crazy?"

"... There's a Reploid named Vile who, let's just say, can loose his head when he's angry, and really likes to try and get under peoples' skin. I'm the only one who can handle him. Another crazy student is a pink Reploid named Alia, a love-desperate navigator. She may seem sweet, but if you tell her you're not interested in her, there's no telling what she'll do to you. There's also an insane animal-designed Reploid named Chill Penguin who can turn you to ice and then break any one of your limbs off and put them in his dream machine to cause the 'next ice age.' Err, but don't worry about him, he's not all that great. Just don't let him sit on you, he weighs a ton. And finally, Storm Eagle. Either have him send you flying ten miles, or have his children peck at you until you die from blood loss."

My mouth dropped open.

"Why have none of these guys been expelled?"

"... Because they bring Commander some porn magazines."

"YOU'RE SHITTING ME!" I jumped off the bike and started running away. "I changed my mind! I don't wanna go to the Academy!"

"Wait! Mega Man X!"

Zero's p.o.v.

Poor guy, I had to knock him out just to drag him to the Academy.

"Huh. I arrived on time, that's a miracle."

"Hey, there, Rapunzel, who's the kid?"

"Hi, Bucket head. This here's the Reploid I'll be turning into a skilled Maverick Hunter. His name is Mega Man X."

"Ha ha ha! You're gonna have a lot of work to do if he can't even wake him up to come do the drills."

"He woke up," I said calmly, "I just had to put him to sleep again. He wouldn't have come here if he was awake."

"Ha ha! That's even more pathetic!"

"Trust me, he'll be a better Hunter than you could ever dream to be."

"Hey, don't you think a miracle is asking too much?"

"I'm not asking, I'm doing. And you're right, I should get better at insults. Anyone can be a better Hunter than you, bucket head, especially in your dreams that're coming from your tiny ass brain." He twitched his hand towards his gun angrily. I walked behind him and whispered, "Let me beat you in this bet first before you commit suicide."

I carried X for a while until I could confirm Vile was out of sight. I looked around, and none of the crazy students were in eyesight. I sighed in relief and started shaking the blue bomber.

"Mega Man X! Hey, wake up, Mega Man X, training's starting."

He moaned and sat up.

"You... knocked me out?"

"Sorry, I had to. Don't worry, you'll get used to these crazy students eventually."

"A-alright..."

 _"Fighting students, report to the shooting ground."_

"Come on, follow me."

He followed me over to the shooting grounds. I honestly would've skipped this, I hated having to use a Buster, I only felt comfortable with my saber. But I decided to go for X. I wasn't too good at it, but I had experience with a Buster, and I thought I could help him out. And boy, did he need it.

X shuddered when he held his Buster up towards a target. It was almost as if he thought it was a person in front of him, instead of a lifeless piece of wood. He spent at least thirty seconds staring at the target, he didn't even blink the entire time.

When he finally did shoot, it was a light beam that didn't even scratch the target. But hey, at least he hit the target. Mine went right above it. Yeah, we both needed shooting practice.

After the drills were done, I couldn't help but mumble curse words to myself. I noticed X was staring down at his Buster, and seemed pissed at it. He sighed and hit himself on the head with it.

"Hey, don't break yourself," I said.

He sighed and looked down.

 _"Fighting students, report to the Saber dojo."_

"That's my destiny calling," I said. "You wanna try out a saber?"

"Uh, no. I can't even hold my hand steady, I'd drop the saber..."

"Oh, okay. This should be over in an hour, will you be okay by yourself?"

"Hopefully."

"Just stay away from those students I told ya about, and you'll be fine."

X's p.o.v.

I actually went outside to try and shoot the targets again. I thought maybe I was so terrible because so many people were watching me. That proved to be false, as I still trembled when I held up my Buster.

I shook my head.

 _What am I so afraid of?_

I gulped and held up my Buster again. Before I could pull the trigger, something shot past my head and hit the target. When it hit it, the target turned to ice.

"Wh-what the fu-"

"Bull's eye!"

I turned around to see a chubby penguin that went up to my chest. He waddled up to me and circled me, occasionally pecking at my armor. He chuckled and looked at me.

"You have quite lovely armor. Perhaps I could use it to build my machine to bring the next ice age."

I felt my blood freeze. It was Chill Penguin!

"Um, e-excuse me, I have to go." I started to walk away.

"Where?"

"Um, I-I'm late for saber training..."

"Then why were you out here?"

"I-I uh, f-forgot," I lied. I continued to walk away. "Well um, see ya." _Phew, that was close._ An ice shot hit the wall next to my head. "Aieek!"

"Hold still!"

"AHH!"

I ran away from the psycho penguin as fast as I could, evading his ice shots which were always only a few inches away from me.

"Come b-ACK!"

I ducked in a room and closed the door behind me. I heard his footsteps run right by me, and more shots from his Shotgun Ice. The second after I let loose a sigh of relief, I let loose a gasp of shock. Birds were pecking at the broken parts of a Reploid, obviously tearing him apart.

"Oh, hello."

"AH!"

"I wasn't expecting company. I'm just taking care of a Maverick, nothing special to see here. I don't think I've seen you around before, are you new here?"

"Y-you," I stuttered, "y-you're Storm Eagle, right?"

"Yes, I am. And you are...?"

"Aheh heh heh..." I went through the door and slammed it. I was leaning against it, hoping that I could keep him in. _I'm gonna die. I know I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die!_

"Hi there," a pink Reploid next to me said. "What's wrong? You look pale."

"Err, I'm just trying to hide from certain people."

"Oh! Well you can hide with me, I'll protect you!"

"Um, thanks."

I started to walk away when she slipped her arm around mine, and she also put her hand in mine.

"Just throwing this out there, you're really cute. My name's Alia."

 _AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!_

Zero's p.o.v.

Saber training had finally ended. I couldn't help but smile at it before I put my saber away. When I looked up I noticed Iris walking by the dojo. I figured since I was going through with Vile's bet I could at least talk to her.

"Hi," I said. "How was the Navigation class?"

"Oh, hello, Zero. The class was great, except for the fact that Alia didn't show up..."

"What? I saw her car- Augh, she's probably trying to get a date again." I sighed. "Maybe if she was as pretty and nice as you, she might have a chance," I said with a smile.

She giggled.

"Thanks. Now I'd better go see who needs rescuing from Alia."

"Ha ha! Yeah, you do that."

I turned a corner and gasped when I saw X about to be raped by Alia.

 _Oh snap! She's got Mega Man X! What should I do? If I tell her to back off, she'll just think I'm jealous, and if he tells her he's not interested, she'll do Heaven knows what to him- Wait! I know!_ I stomped over to them. "Hey!" I grabbed X and pulled him away from her. "What're you doing with my boyfriend!?" I exaggeratedly kissed him directly on the lips, making him cringe.

Alia stared at us in disgust. I glared at her, and she walked away with a grossed out look on her face.

I wiped my mouth.

"Sorry. You alright?"

"Yeah... Thanks."

"I take it you've been 'introduced' to the students I was telling you about?"

"Three of them."

I looked around to see if anyone was watching. Seeing there wasn't, I turned back to X. "One of them didn't happen to be Vile, did they?"

"No. It was Chill Penguin, Storm Eagle, and Alia."

"Trust me, stay clear from that guy."

"O-okay," he said with a nod. "Um, should I be scared?"

"... Yes."

 _"Fighting students, report to the combat dojo."_

"Alright," I said, "this is something I can help you with. Come on."

He was almost just as bad at combat as he was with shooting. To his credit, he was good at blocking, but he seemed afraid to hit me. I eventually broke through his block and knocked him on the floor.

"HASHORYUKEN!"

To spare his pride, I won't tell you the rest of the fight.

It was weird. I knew he was weak when I first saw him, but... I felt that there was something more to him. I felt like there was something in him that he wasn't showing, but why wasn't he showing it? I knew that there was some power inside of him, and I had to be the one to unleash it. This was no longer for the sake of obtaining Iris, it was about unleashing what was in him.

After that was over, I saw Iris again walking down the hall. I knew that if I couldn't make X stronger, I would loose her. While thinking that, I realized how stupid the bet I made with Vile was. I was a really stupid teenager...

X came up to me.

"Is that your crush?"

I felt myself blush and looked away from him. "Yeah, her name's Iris..."

"She's pretty cute, you made a good choice."

"Than-"

"Hi, there!" Our conversation was interupted by one crazy blond.

"AH! A-Alia, what do you want!?"

"You two are gay, right? That is so hot! Would you mind making out for me?"

I face palmed then sighed. "Okay, we're- WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT!?"

"Huh?"

"Run!"

X's p.o.v.

I never thought I would be happy to be on the chaser bike again, but it meant getting away from that crazy bitch. Neither of us said a word to each other on the way back. I didn't want to start up a conversation, anyway, I was to ashamed of my performance to talk to him.

I shamefully walked into his apartment and looked down at my Buster, sighing in disappointment. Zero slammed the door shut.

"I'm not giving up on you," he said. "There's a power inside you, Mega Man X, I can feel it. All you need is a push, and an explination how to use your power. You may be weak now, but you'll be strong. You may even be as strong as I am. I dare you to surpass me, Mega Man X!"

I felt like crying tears of joy. I stifled them back and smiled.

"Fine, I accept your dare. And uh, just call me X."

He smirked and walked closer to me.

"Thanks, that's easier to remember. I promise I'll make you stronger, just be careful and back me up, okay?"

My smile widened. "Right."

He smiled back at me and turned towards his pod. "Come on, we should get some sleep."

"Um... Zero?"

"Yeah?"

"A-are..." I couldn't finish. "Never mind, I'll see you in the morning."

 **Author's note: Well, this is one of the hardest fanfictions I've ever had to write. I have to avoid the military student cliches, I have to build the big-brother-little-brother relationship with X and Zero, I have to develop characters for the Mavericks that were once Hunters, my favorite character Axl isn't here, and I'm over here trying to give Alia a personality outside of "CAN YOU HEAR ME?" so I made her a playboy bunny. Well, wish me luck.**


	3. The gay breakup

X's p.o.v.

I trembled when I held my Buster up towards the target. They told me to imagine an enemy being there, and I had to shoot to save someone, but that's what made it even harder. I didn't want to hurt anyone, and what if I accidentally shot the hostage? What made it even worse was that Zero wasn't there because he was really uncomfortable with the Buster, and I insisted I would be okay without him. But I wasn't, he was the only person in the Academy I felt safe around.

I eventually shot, but it didn't do crap to the target. Embarrassed, I walked back in the line with my head drooped.

"Do you think he walked in here by mistake?"

"Probably. Maybe he thought this was a regular school or something."

I did my best to tune them out, but their words seemed louder than Church Bells. After the shooting drills, I decided to skip out on the saber drills, and walk around the Academy. I didn't get the chance to explore, and I was a bit curious of my new school. I just had to keep clear of the crazy students.

I found a statue of Commander Sigma in front of the building, and marveled at how well it'd been build. I was wondering how he could stand having a statue of himself right in front of him, that'd scare me half to death.

"Hey, you."

I gasped and turned around to see a purple Reploid with several weapons on his body. "P-please don't scare me like that."

"What're you doing here?"

"Well, I wanted to look around the Academy, so I thought I'd see what was out fro-"

"No. I mean, what're you doing at Maverick Hunter Academy?" he asked. "You don't belong here, you're obvioulsy not fit to be a Hunter. Have you ever thought that maybe you'd just end up being a ball and chain?"

I looked at the ground.

"It's true that I'm timid and weak, but... I would like to get stronger. I would also like to get a bit braver, too. This is a pointless war that's going on, so I thought the best way to stop it is to fight in it. Plus..." I lifted my head with a smile. "If I manage to become a Hunter, then I'll be helping somebody out. True, he dragged me in here when I didn't want to come, but he's been nice to me outside of that. So I wanna help hi-"

"Ha ha ha ha! You honestly think it'll be that simple?"

"N-no, of course no-"

"Run home now, little boy," he sneered. "This place will tear you apart. I remember one time someone like you dropped by, thinking he had what it took. You wanna know how much easier his life would've been if he hadn't come by?"

"How much?"

"He would still be alive for one thing." He chuckled. "And, if that's not enough to convince you to drop out, look at me. I'm one of the best, if not _the_ best student this Academy has ever seen. I'm stronger than pretty much anyone I've ever met in this place, and I'm still struggling. You're just in the Rank S classes, you have no idea what the A classes are like. Each day, the training I'm in leaves me on the ground on the verge of dying. And if that happens to me, what makes you think you can survive?"

He walked away. I was in so much shock, I didn't hear him mumble,

"And just like that, I'm in his head."

I collapsed on my knees. I felt small, worthless, and terrified. Before I could decide to run away, I froze. I couldn't move, I couldn't talk, I couldn't even blink. My head was turned up towards the sky, and I started moving.

 _What's happening to me!?_

I was like that for about an hour. When I finally stopped moving I was facing a brown ceiling with chains hanging from it. I felt air brush against the top of my head, and eventually, I could blink. I turned my head, and realized I was frozen in ice.

"What the-"

"Good, you're awake." It was Chill Penguin. "Now I can start taking your limbs off. I'll start with your head."

"WHAT!? GET ME OUTTA HERE!" A foot jabbed Chill Penguin, making him hit the wall. "A-Alia?"

"What're you doing, Chill Penguin!?" She started punching him repeatedly. "What're you doing to my X-ey!? I told you not to cut off the limbs of any boys, yet all your targets are boys!" She stopped punching, and squeeled with her hands on her cheeks. "Are you jealous!? Do you love me!?"

"Uh-"

She cuddled him like he was a doll.

"Well, you're not designed like me, but I'd say you're cute. Okay, I'll date you."

"I'm not dating a woman who just nearly broke me!"

Alia's face grew dark, and her pupils seemed to have shrunk. Because I can't stomach it, I won't tell you what she did to him. I'll only tell you what he said while I was trying not to puke.

"What're you doing!? Put that dow- SQUAWK! Please fuck no! No, not there- SQUAWK! Wait, no, I need those! SQUAWK! No! You can take out anything else, but not tha- SQUAWK! Stop that! I wanna still be a man when you kill me- SQUAWK!"

Alia walked up to me with a knife in hand, covered in blood.

"Sorry about that, X-ey. So anyway, I never got the chance to see you and Zero make out! Would you mind showing me your hotness today?"

"Uh, sure..." I noticed the ice had melt, and I immediately stood up and backed up towards the door. "I'm gonna go look for Zero right now. I'll see ya later." I ran out the door. "HELP, THERE'S A PSYCHO OUT TRYING TO FORCE ME INTO GAY ACTIVITY!"

Zero's p.o.v.

I noticed Iris walking by the saber dojo again. Seeing as Vile wasn't around, I decided to talk to her again.

"Hey, there." She gave me a look of shock. "What? Is something wrong?"

"Oh, um, n-no," she said.

"Iris, I'm not stupid, am I bothering you?"

"No, I just... I just found out you were gay, and I'm still a bit sho-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Who told you I'm gay?"

"Alia. She told everyone in our class how 'hot' you and X are."

I face palmed. "That fucking woman..."

"Zero!" X cried as he came running up to hug me. "Help, Alia's a psycho!"

"Okay," Iris said, a bit disgusted. "I'll just leave you two alone."

"Wait, Iris...! Augh." I gently pushed X off of me. "X, we've got a bit of a problem here," I said. "Remember yesterday when I kissed you to get Alia off of ya? Well, Alia thinks that we're gays, and told pretty much everybody in navigation class."

X's face turned red as he started to panic.

"What!?"

"Who knows who else she told?"

"Hey." Vile was behind us. "I learned something about you from Alia, and... that'd explain the Rapunzel hair."

I punched him into the wall and put a crack in his helmet.

"Come on, X, help me think of a way to get us outta this mess."

"So... Does this mean I can have Iris?" I stabbed him. Pulling the saber out of his gut, I put it back on my waste and pulled X away.

"Come on," I whispered, "let's go find Alia, I have a plan."

After explaining it to him, we found the pink Reploid talking with Storm Eagle. She was probably telling him we were gay, judging by the expression on his face.

"Okay," I whispered, "go!" X walked forward, exaggerating his footsteps, trying to draw in attention. After a few seconds, I bolted towards him. "Hey! X!"

"Huh? Hey, babe, what's up-"

"I heard you were cheating on me!"

"Is this happenin'?" Storm Eagle asked with a smirk.

"I heard you were seeing a Reploid named Wally!"

"This is happenin'," he said as he held up a bowl of popcorn.

"Yeah, he's a cute Reploid who actually appreciated me. Why wouldn't I take him over you, blondie?"

"Gay drama is happenin'!" He ate a handful of popcorn.

"What about everything we've been through?" I asked. "Are you just gonna pretend like that never happened? Were all the promises you made just lies!?"

"Everything you've ever told me was a lie," X retorted angrily. "It's simple, blondie, he's in, you're out. I had fun making out with you, but it's over now."

"Well you can drive yourself home then!"

"Fine!"

I turned around and slammed my fists into the wall as X walked away angrily.

 _"Fighting students, report to the dojo."_

Everyone in the room cleared out. Once the room was completely empty, X walked back up to me as I turned back around.

"I don't really have to drive myself back to your apartment, do I?"

"Ha ha ha ha ha!" I laughed and slapped him on the back.

X's p.o.v.

To this day, I still can't believe that crazy shit happened.

Anyhoe, I was back in Zero's apartment in a small room which I assumed was the living room. I stared down at my Buster in deep thought. Vile's words kept returning to me,

 _"Each day, the training leaves me on the ground on the verge of dying. And if that happens to me, what makes you think you can survive?"_

I switched my Buster back to my hand and looked away. My hands curled into fists, and I felt my bottum lip tremble. I felt a chill go up my spine, and my palms began to sweat. I'd gotten this feeling several times before, but this time it felt greater.

"Hey," a deep voice said from the doorway. "You ready to get in bed?"

"Y-yes," I said, trying to keep my voice from trailing off. I started to walk by him when he grabbed my arm.

"Alright, what's going on?"

"Nothing, I'm fine."

"X, even a blind man could tell something's bothering you," he said a matter of fact-ly. "You may be a Hunter-in-training, but you don't have to hide your problems from anyone."

"There're no problems to hide," I said with a smile. "I'm fine, really, you don't have to worry about me." His face started to show worry and and concern as he put his hand on my shoulder.

"X, I'm not just here to be awesome, I can help you."

"And if I needed help, you'd be the first person I'd come to." I pulled his hand off of me. "But nothing's wrong with me. I appreciate your concern, but I'm just fine."

"... You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah."

"... Alright, let's get some sleep. Training's gonna be just as harsh tomorrow."

I felt my smile fade. "Oh, r-right..."

I got into the pod. The lid closed over me, and I felt myself begin to drift off. Before I did, I turned over and whispered to myself,

"No. No, I'm not okay..."


	4. X and Zero's first mission!

X's p.o.v.

I was on the ground with a crumbled Buster, and I was bleeding all over. I couldn't stand up because all of my energy was going into my constant gasping for air. Electricity ran across my open wounds.

"X!"

The pain suddenly faded, and my breath had returned to me. I looked around to see I was still in the pod I'd fallen asleep in. _Was that a dream?_ Ice cold water fell on my face. "WHAH!"

"Wake up, we're gonna be late."

"I'm up, I'm up!"

Zero handed me a towl.

"Let's go!"

"I said I'm coming!"

Zero's p.o.v.

Immediately after saber training was over, I found Iris and explained to her what had caused the events of the day before.

"... so I'm not gay, I just had to find a way to keep Alia off of me and my friend."

"Ha ha! That sounds crazy," she laughed. "Sorry about Alia..."

"Ehh, it's alright. Just please don't tell her I told you this, it's the only way to keep her hands off of me and X."

She giggled. "Alright. I'd better go, my next class is about to start."

After she left, I decided to take a small walk while waiting for martial arts training to start. I looked up and saw Commander Sigma outside his office door, beckoning me to enter. I obediantly followed him in, closing the door behind me.

"Yes, Commander?"

"Zero," he said, "a Maverick has been spotted in a cave outside the city. We've been chasing him for months, but everyone at H.Q. has their hands full with a Maverick gang right now. Can I trust you with retrieving this Maverick?"

I felt my heart race. It was a mission! I stood up straight and solluted. "Yes, sir. On one condition, though, I wanna bring someone with me."

"Of course, I wasn't going to send you out alone," Sigma said as he sat back down. "However, the students here are all rather busy as well, so you can only bring two along with you and two only. Understand?"

"Yes, sir. I know just the men."

During martial arts class, I had the conversation with X while sparring with him. Of course, I approached maturely and was ready to accept the answer no.

"X, we're going to go catch a Maverick," I said as he blocked my kick. He pushed it back and punched me.

"What!?"

I blocked his punch and flipped him. "Start packing, we're heading out tomorrow. Also, be prepared to loose a couple of limbs."

"... Help."

After the class was over, we started looking for someone else to come along.

"Commander Sigma said we needed one more recruit. But that'll be hard, because there are very few students in here who actually do stuff, and the ones that _are_ strong are also insane."

"Hey," Storm Eagle said across from us. "Glad to see you two are still talking after that dramatic break up."

"We're not gay!" I snapped. "Hey, Storm Eagle, Commander Sigma ordered me and X to chase after a Maverick out of the city, wanna come?"

"A Maverick? Of course, my wings have been getting cramps."

"What're you doing?" X whispered. "He's one of the students you told me to look out for."

"He's dangerous, but he's not as bad as the others," I whispered back. "We can trust him." I said in a louder tone, "We're leaving tomorrow morning. Meet us at my apartment, okay?"

"I'll be there."

X's p.o.v.

We left at morning, but we got to the woods with the cave near noon. I stayed a good distance from Storm Eagle at all times, and made sure I was close to Zero.

"Okay, so does anyone have a plan?"

"Commander Sigma didn't really give me much information. So, my best bet is-"

A loud beeping noise sounded through our ears.

"Can you hear me?"

"The fuck is that?" I whispered.

"Can you hear me? Can you hear me? Can you hea-"

"Yes, we can hear you!" Zero said. "What're you doing, Alia?"

"Didn't Commander Sigma tell you? I'll be in charge of the navigation for your mission. Commander went ahead and gave me a bunch of information on this environment the Maverick's hiding in. This is great practice for all of us, doncha think?"

"I guess so," I said. "But Commander never said we'd have a navigator, did he really sign you up to this, Alia?"

-Flashback-

"Hi, Commander," Alia had said innocently, handing him a magazine. "Here's a porn magazine I found in the trash. I'll give it to you if you let me navigate Zero on his quest. Pretty please~"

-End of flashback-

"Totally," she lied.

"Well, it's reassuring knowing we'll be having help," Storm Eagle said. "Thanks for coming along, I'm sure you'll be a big help."

Alia squealed. "Aw, Storm Eagle, are you in love with me?"

Storm Eagle did a 'Oh crap, I just shit my pants' face. "Uh-"

"Aw, that's so cute!" she squealed. "Alright, once this is over, I can go on a date with you!"

"Help me," Eagle whispered.

"But you're gonna have to wait until after you catch this guy. This cave is really big, so the Maverick could be anywhere in there. Try luring him out first, then ambush him. You may not even half to hurt him if you move quick enough."

I felt myself smile at that last statement.

"Leave this to me," Storm Eagle said. He jumped up and hovered at least twenty feet above the cave. "STORM TORNADO!" He blasted a purple tornado at the cave, sending rocks flying everywhere.

"What the fuck is this!?" I cried.

"This is Storm Eagle's special weapon," Zero said calmly, standing tall with his head errect, unfazed by the blast. "It's called Storm Tornado."

"Uh, Storm Eagle, this isn't exactly what I had in mind," Alia said.

A figure dashed from the cave. They ducked into the shadows wearing a black robe. I couldn't see who it was, but I knew from one glance it was the Maverick.

"Hey!" I cried. I jumped towards them, but they rolled out of my reach. They got up and ran into the woods. "Wait! C-come back!"

"Damn it," Zero growled. He pulled out his saber and ran after them. "Come on!" Storm Eagle flew after them.

 _I guess this means there'll be violence after all..._ "Wait for me!"

Zero's p.o.v.

"Damn, where the hell did he go?"

Storm Eagle landed next to me. "Should I try blasting him out again?"

"No, I think you've done enough damage."

"Boys, keep your guard up, he might be ready to spring an attack."

X ran up to us and held up his Buster.

"Be careful," I whispered, "he could be anywhere in here."

I heard footsteps to my right. I looked up and saw the black robe near a tree. Dashing forward, I used my saber to stab them, but no one was there. It was just the robe. I heard a Buster shot behind me.

"What the hell was that!?" I gasped. X was holding an open hole in his chest as he collapsed on his knees. "X!"

Storm Eagle shot out an egg, and out of that appeared four little birds which charged in the direction the blast had come from. Someone jumped over them and ran into the woods, grabbing the cape I'd stabbed earlier. They were going too fast, I couldn't see who it was.

"Get back here, you bastard!"

"After him, my children!" Eagle commanded his new minions. Obeying, they charged after the Maverick, Storm Eagle close behind.

"X! X!" I shook him repeatedly.

He slowly held up his hand, and extended it towards me. He tried to push me off of him. "I'm fine... You go ahead."

"I can't leave you like this!"

"Can you hear me, Zero?" Alia called. "I'll send someone to repair X-ey, you go after Storm Eagle and the Maverick, they're heading towards the mountain to your left, you can't miss it. You'd better go get my new boy friend back, or I'll kill you!"

"Uh, sure..." _Poor Storm Eagle, he'll have to commit suicide to avoid Alia..._ "I've gotta go. You'll be okay, I promise, just wait." I ran after Storm Eagle.

I eventually got to the mountain Alia was talking about and immediately started jumping up it.

"Can you hear me, Zero?"

"You know, you don't have to ask that, the communicator's in my ear."

"X-ey got up on his own, he's coming after you."

"What!?" I stopped in my tracks and looked behind me. "He's injured, he can't fight."

"Your bro-mance is so strong!" She sighed heavily. "It's so romantic and hot. Hopefully I can see you two make out after this is over!"

"Erm... You do know he and I broke up, right?" I'd hoped that lie of ours was over. "Don't cancel the repair team, he needs to be fixed as soon as possible!"

"Alright~"

I was about to start climbing again when the sound of beating wings reached my ears. Storm Eagle flew down next to me.

"Zero, I lost him up there."

"Damn! This guy's sneaky-" Pellets fell on my face, making me fall backwards off the mountain side.

"Zero!"

I quickly regained my senses and landed on my feet. The pellets put several openings on my face around my eyes, revealing my metal insides.

"The fuck was that!?"

"You okay?"

"Y-yeah, I think some rocks just hit me or something." _No, rocks aren't enough to scape my armor. They didn't hurt like rocks did, either. They stung. But where did they come from? I didn't hear a Buster or gun shot._ I looked up and saw the black robe. "There he is!"

"STORM TORNADO!"

Eagle shot the tornado again. The Maverick jumped off of the mountain before it hit, but the tornado made a giant rock fly off of the mountain and it hit him, causing him to fall into the woods.

X's p.o.v.

I gasped for breath while holding my wounded chest as I jogged as fast as I could towards the mountain.

"Stron... ger...," I muttered. "I have to... get... stronger... To win that bet... so I can... help..."

Before I could take another step, I heard the sound of the Storm Tornado in front of me. A bolder came flying towards me, causing me to dash backwards. When it landed in front of me, I noticed the Maverick in the robe underneath it.

I held up my Buster, knowing this could be my only chance to finish him off. My body trembled. He slowly looked up at me, obviously in pain. I gulped. My trembling stopped, and I fired.


	5. I'll get stronger so you can win the bet

X's p.o.v.

Pieces of the bolder went flying everywhere. The Maverick slowly sat up, relieved to have that weight off of him. After I destroyed the bolder, I got behind him and held his arms behind his back.

"You're under arrest!" _Ha... I did it. I really did it!_ He rolled forward, causing me to hit my head and let go of him. Once he was free, he made a run for it. "Hey! Get back here!" The hole in my chest began to ache again, but I did my best to ignore it and ran after him.

"Can you hear me, X? I've sent a repair for you, they'll be arriving shortly. So let Zero and Storm Eagle take care of this one, okay?"

"I can handle this," I said. "Don't cancel the repair team, I'll be out in time for them."

I eventually caught up to him. He was running into a cave which had an automatic door in front of it that closed the second he got it. I shot it repeatedly until it broke, and ran in. I stood up straight and held up by Buster, looking around the cave.

"Stronger," I muttered, "stronger. I have to get stronger."

There didn't appear to be anyone there, so I ran deeper into the cave.

The hole in my chest started to hurt. I cringed at he pain, but I kept going.

"X, look out above you!" Alia cried.

I jumped backwards before a stalactite could fall on me and put a hole in my head.

"... No," I said.

"Huh?"

"This isn't right."

"X-ey, what're you-"

I shut off communications.

"Sorry, Alia. I have to get stronger on my own."

Zero's p.o.v.

We ran in the direction we thought we saw the Maverick fall. All we found however, were pieces of rock that we assumed were from the bolder that also fell.

"Can you hear me, boys? X and the Maverick have gone off to your left. Keep running straight until you find a busted open cave, they're in there."

"Thanks."

"Hurry up, I think something happened to X, his communication's shut off."

"Mention that first!" I snapped. "Come on, Eagle!" After about a minute of running (Eagle flew) we reached the cave with a broken door. "Alright, if he's in here then we can corner him. Good job, X."

"Careful, the stalactites are pretty flimsy. Keep your heads up."

"Thanks."

We kept our eyes glued to the ceiling, but the stalactites never moved. In fact, not one budged even after we got past the spot with the stalactites.

"Hmm... Alia, are you sure the stalactites were falling?"

"Yes, one almost hit X-ey."

"Maybe it was just that one," Eagle suggested. "Whatever, we can't be stalled by something as trivial as that, let's try to find X and the Maverick."

I nodded.

"Be careful, there might be some more booby traps up ahead."

X's p.o.v.

To my suprise, there were more traps ahead. Luckily, I had keene eyes, so I could spot them the moment they appeared.

The first one was knives on the right and left sides of the cave and pressure plates on the floor. The plates blended in well, but not well enough to escape my sight. I shot them all numerous times, and then I ran through the passage. I missed one.

I stepped on it, and two knives pierced my armor. I lightly screamed in pain.

"This doesn't hurt." I pulled one out. "This doesn't hurt!" I pulled the other one out. "This doesn't hurt, it's just a minor annoyance, that's all." I pushed forward.

There were several more ahead, and I don't remember them all exactly, but by the end of them all, I had cuts and bruises all over. I did my best to ignore it, and pushed through. After an hour, I looked up and finally saw him; the anonymous Maverick. He was typing on a computer.

I ducked behind a rock and charged up my Buster. I knew that if I could hit him with a charged shot, then that would take him out. When it was charged enough, I held up my Buster. My trembling came back.

 _Stop it! If you don't shoot him now, who knows what'll happen. This is your chance, shoot him now. If you shoot him, then you'll be one step closer to helping Zero win that bet And if he wins that bet... then..._ I continued to tremble. _I... I can't do it. I don't wanna hurt anyone. Shoot him! No! You've got to! I can't! Just do it! I'm not a murderer! Shoot him!_

"NOOO!" I shot the wall next to the Maverick. He already knew I was there thanks to my yell, I was just giving away my position. I held my head in frustration. "I'm worthless... I really am worthless...!"

I looked up and gasped. He was right in front of me.

Zero's p.o.v.

I heard a scream and a Buster shot from a mile ahead.

We picked up the pace, and in a few minutes arrived in a large room with a couple computers. There, we saw X being held up by the Maverick with a large white loaded gun pointed at his head, and bleeding heavily as if the Maverick had tortured him.

"X!"

"So... rr..." He coughed up blood. "Sor... ry..."

I tried to take a step forward, but the Maverick shook his finger and pointed at his gun, telling me if I moved he would kill him.

"X," I said as I pulled out my saber, "didn't I tell you to be careful?" X didn't answer me, and he didn't look like he could answer. I pointed my saber at him. "Well, it looks like I'm gonna have to take care of you then."

"W-wait, Zero," Storm Eagle said, "you're not gonna...!?"

"ZERO!" Alia screeched. "IF YOU HURT X-EY I'LL MURDER YOU IN YOUR SLEEP! THE WHOLE REASON I CAME WITH YOU BOYS IS TO TRY AND GET YOU TWO BACK TOGETHER! ARE YOU LISTENING!? CAN YOU HEAR ME, ZERO!?"

X smiled and closed his eyes.

I dashed forward and jabbed my saber through him and the Maverick. Or so it appeared. My saber was going through the open hole in X's chest, leaving him unscathed and going through the anonymous Maverick's shoulder. The anonymous Maverick stood a step back, holding the hole I created. X fell in my arms.

Storm Eagle flew past us.

"STORM TORNADO!"

He shot the Maverick and the second half of the cave in front of us outside. When his shot had finished firing, we headed outside to catch him. He was gone again.

"Damn it!" I yelled. "We had him right in our reach!"

Sirens were heard in the distance. It was an ambulace, obviously the repair team Alia had called for. I smiled and looked at the blue bomber.

"You're gonna be okay, pal."

He smiled again before passing out.

The next time I saw him was the very next morning at the Academy.

Commander Sigma didn't take the news of us loosing the Maverick too well, he just put his hand on his face and sent me away. I dropped my head in shame.

Anyway, while I was skipping the shooting drills, I went into the repair room to check on my blue buddy. He was lying there, slowly being repaired. He opened his eyes and looked up at me.

"Good morning," I said casually. "How're you enjoying the repair room?"

"Well, I can't move, no one talks to me, I'm starving, and I can't feel my legs."

"Yeah, that was a stupid question." I sat down next to him. "Don't worry, you should be outta here soon."

"Did you ever find the Maverick?"

"No." I shook my head. "He's still missing." He looked up towards the ceiling, depressed. "Hey, don't worry about it, we never had much of a chance anyway. We're only students."

He kept looking at the ceiling.

"It was my fault he got away," he said. "I had the chance to shoot him, but I didn't." He put his hand on his face. "I'm so pathetic. Just thinking about pulling the trigger makes me shudder."

I pulled his hand off of his face. "That's called a conscience." I held it firmly. "Yours is just a bit too strong, that's all. But, you should know that sometimes, we can't hesitate to pull the trigger."

He formed a tight grip around my hands. I could tell he was fighting off tears as he turned over and smiled at me.

"I know. I'll get better at this, and become a Hunter. I promise I'll make you fufill that bet of yours."

 _... I don't even care about getting Iris anymore. There's a power inside of you that you're not showing because you're so worried about people getting hurt. I want to see that power... I'll unleash it, and then we can fight. I want to fight you someday._

"Thanks, X. I guess this is a good way to help each other." I let go of his hand. "Hey, that time before I attacked you... Why did you smile?"

His current smile widened. "Because I knew you had a plan. I trust you, Zero, I knew you wouldn't take me down with the enemy."

I stared at him in shock. How could this timid boy trust me, the person whose fault that he was in danger in the first place, with his life? I kept staring at him for a while, then I felt myself smile. "Thanks. You were right to trust me."

He chuckled. "I know."

A blond head popped up on the other side of X's bed.

"So are you two gonna make out?"

"AH!"

"ALIA!"

"Come on! I wanna see you two have hot gay sex. I wanna see that happen. Come on!"

"Err, WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT!?"

The moment she turned her head around, I was out the door. Heaven knows I'm not gonna fuck another man. The first person I bumped into was my purple rival. He didn't seem too happy to see me, and he didn't even look up at me.

Something came to my mind. The gun on Vile's back looked exactly like the gun the Maverick was using to threaten to shoot X with. And Vile could also shoot little energy pellets, much like the ones that hit me on the mountain. I knew I needed further evidence, so I got a closer look at him. He had a scratch mark in the place I'd jabbed the Maverick.

"What're you looking at, Rapunzel?"

"N-nothing." I walked past him and immediately headed into Commander Sigma's office. "Commander! About that Maver-"

"Oh, don't worry about that. Hunter H.Q. caught him just an hour ago. Everything's fine now."

I looked back in the direction I'd come.

 _So where did Vile get that scratch?_


	6. Biker X

Zero's p.o.v.

I woke up the next morning feeling refreshed and relieved. It was Sunday, so we didn't have any training at the Academy. The only downside was that my hair had gotten even puffier during the night. I hated getting my long hair messy, all it did was make me wish I'd gotten a hair cut at some point. And it didn't help that X was chuckling his ass off when he woke up.

"You're lucky you don't have hair!"

He continued to chuckle.

"S-sorry, ha ha...!"

Annoyed, and a bit embarrassed, I started brushing my hair back out. I noticed through the mirror that X was looking out the window at something. I walked over to him, forgetting about my hair.

"What're you looking at? My Chaser Bike?"

"Yeah," he said. "I feel bad for making you carry me everywhere. I... I wanna learn how to ride one of those things."

"Oh. Well, even though there's no training today, Maverick Hunter Academy has some riding lessons on Sunday evenings, why don't you go to that?"

He snapped his head up with a smile.

"That'd be awesome!"

My phone started buzzing. I picked it up and sighed in disgust.

"Vile wants me to meet him this evening at a bar. What the hell does bucket head want with me?" I looked back up. "Well, sorry, this means I won't be able to come and watch."

"That's okay," he said politely. "You probably wouldn't see anything special anyway."

"Well, to make it up to you I might as well show you the basics."

"Thanks."

After a whole afternoon of showing X the posture of being on a bike, I headed to the bar Vile told me to meet him at. I stared at the door nob for a while, hesitant of going inside.

 _I know Commander Sigma told me that they caught the Maverick, but... I know Vile had something to do with it. No other Reploid I know has a giant white gun, and can shoot pellets like that, and where the hell else could he have gotten that scratch?_

I gulped. Gripping my saber base, I turned the nob and walked in.

"Hey, Rapunzel!" Vile was sitting right next to the door. "Glad to see you came."

I forced a fake grin.

"Of course." I sat down at his table. "So what did you want to talk to me about, and why couldn't we just have this conversation over the phone, or at either of our apartments?"

"Well..." He turned towards the counter, then back at me. "It's about the mission you and those other two had a few days ago."

"Oh. Did you just wanna make fun of me for that?"

"No, I just wanted to talk about it."

He looked back towards the counter, tapping his fingers impatiently.

"... Vile, where were you that day?"

"Me? Erm, I was at the Academy, where else would I be?"

"That's a pretty big scratch. Did you cut yourself on something?"

"Uh, yeah, I got hurt in the saber dojo."

"What the hell were _you_ doing in the saber dojo?"

"I was there observing. Why are you bombarding me with questions? Do you not trust me?"

"Don't act so innocent, bucket head. The Maverick that day was awfully similar to the way you in the way they faught. True, Commander already told me they caught the Maverick, but how can I tell weather or not you were involved somehow?"

"... Ha ha ha! You're so paranoid, Rapunzel. Even if I was involved, what would I have to gain by hurting you or the blue bomber? I need you both alive so I can win that bet. And if I could go Maverick, well then how do you explain me sitting here calmly, talking to a Maverick Hunter in training?"

I couldn't come up with an answer to that. As I was staring at him angrily, the whiskey finally arrived. I don't usually drink, but I decided this once wouldn't be too bad. Vile smirked when he saw me gulp it down.

X's p.o.v.

I slowly and nervously walked into the bike road's side path. I'd been told that a teacher would be there by the time I arrived, but I didn't seen anyone there. At least, not until I heard the sound of large and flapping wings.

"Oh, hi, X. Are you the guy who signed up for Chaser Bike lessons?"

I didn't feel as nervous once he appeared. "Storm Eagle! I didn't know you'd be the teacher."

"Heh, Alia keeps stalking me, so I have to stay as far away from my house as possible."

I chuckled. "Well, then I guess this'll be helping both of us." I got on the bike using the posture Zero told me about.

"Hmm... You've got good posture. Okay, let's start off slow." I started inching forward at a snail's pace. "... Erm, I didn't mean _that_ slow. Come on, press the accelerate button." I did, but I only went like, 0.1006 miles per hour faster. "You know what? That's good enough."

The idea of going too fast made me shudder. I couldn't stand it when holding onto Zero, I knew I wouldn't stand it if I wasn't holding onto anybody.

Storm Eagle started flying over me with a clipboard in hand. This made me nervous again, knowing that someone was judging my every single move.

"Okay, you seem to be doing good so far, try going faster."

"Uh, a-are you sure?"

"Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on things. Come on, if you need to ride this thing to go into battle, you've gotta get in fast."

I gulped and held down the accelerate button. I went fast for about two seconds. I jumped off of it and got on the ground, holding my knees up to my chin, shuddering like hell in terror. The bike went on without me and crashed into the fence.

"DON'T MAKE ME GO FAST, THIS IS TERRIFYING!"

Storm Eagle sighed and face palmed.

"We've got a long way to go..." He stood over me. "Don't worry, X, we've got all evening."

"Mommy...!"

Zero's p.o.v.

I held my head, feeling dizzy. Now, what happened next, I wasn't aware of, but I found out later. -Sigh-

"So, Rapunzel," Vile said intently. "Would you mind telling me-"

"MY NIPPLES ARE GREEN!"

"Uh-"

"Look at my hair." I started twirling it. "I'm like a princess!"

"Maybe I took the drugs too far. Uh, anyway, can you tell me-"

"Am I Rapunzel?"

"N-no, you're Maverick Hunter Ze-"

"But you called me Rapunzel!"

"I was teasing... And now that I think about it, your hair looks more like a banana than a Rapunzel wig. So any way, I wanna know everything about-"

I hopped on the table and pointed towards the ceiling.

"I AM THE BANANA MAN!"

People were staring at us now.

"C-calm down-"

"BANANA SLICE!"

"WHAH!" I was about to slice Vile in half, but he got out of the way, allowing me to just slice the chair. "Zero! Calm the fuck down!"

"It looks like someone's drunk," the bartender said.

"I ain't drunk! I'm Rapunzel the banana man!"

"All I wanted was information of those two rivals..."

I was starting to eat my hair.

"Banana..."

X's p.o.v.

Shaking like crazy, I got back onto the bike. Storm Eagle let me start out slowly again for a while, but expected me to start going fast eventually. I did press the acceleration button, but when I did I screamed lightly and started going slow again. It was taking every ounce of courage I had not to get off of the bike.

Eagle sighed.

"Alright, let's try taking baby steps." He flew fifty feet in front of me. "Accelerate all the way over here first."

I accelerated towards him, but I didn't stop in time so I ran him over. I gasped and jumped off the bike.

"I'm so sorry! Are you alright!?"

He sat up rubbing his beak. "... At least you kept going this time... Does that mean you're not scared of this anymore?"

"Uh, no actually, I was so terrified my hands were frozen solid."

He dropped his head.

"This is gonna be a loooong evening..."

I got back up on the bike when I heard a familiar squawk. Chill Penguin was waddling right up to us.

"Finally, I found you! Now I can use your parts to make my dream machine!"

"AAHHH!" Screaming, I took off on the bike at full speed.

"Wait!" Eagle cried. "Aw, look what you did, Chill Penguin!"

Penguin pecked at him in between the legs. Eagle pecked back on his head, and they broke into a bird fight.

Meanwhile, I was holding down the accelerator button so hard trying to get away from that psycho penguin. I let go, but it didn't stop. I pressed it repeatedly, but nothing happened. It was jammed.

I was too busy crying tears of shock to scream. I looked up and noticed that I was about to run into the Academy. Screaming, I jumped off of the bike and let it crash into the walls. Eagle walked up to me, carrying Chill Penguin by the flipper with several peck marks on the arctic Reploid.

"... X."

"Yeah?" He used the Tornado to send me at least a hundred miles away. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

So after I was able to come back from what I know now was only fifty miles, Storm Eagle was nice enough to give me one last chance.

"But this is your final chance."

"Thanks!" I said merrily.

I hopped on the bike and decided to myself that this time, I wouldn't jam the accelerate button.

"Found you, Storm Eagle!" Alia cried as she rushed up to the bird to hug him. "Heh heh! You're playing hard to get, are you? Well, that's fine by me!" Storm Eagle made another 'oh crap I just shit my pants' face. "Well, you're foolish for thinking you'd be impossible to get by me!"

"Help me..."

 _But... she's so cute. Alia, and the way she's cuddling you right now._

"I'm gonna take this for a spin."

"Wait! X, don't leave me with her!"

* * *

After a few hours, I went to see if I could find Zero as he wasn't at his apartment. Luckily, I found him in a bar with Vile.

"Please, just tell me everything you know about your fucking father!"

"You know, Vile?" Zero said. "You're my only friend." He started clinging onto his waste. "You're my only friend in the whole wide world!"

"Hi, Zero," I said. "Why aren't you at your apartment?"

"What's it to ya?"

"... Are you okay?" I asked. "Are you high?"

"I'm not high! I'm the banana Rapunzel guy!"

"Well, hello there, X-ey," Vile said as he inched closer to me. "Would you mind telling me everything you know about your creator?"

"Huh? My dad? Uh, I don't know too much about what happened to me before someone named Dr. Cain found me and reactivated me. Sorry."

"So... this was all for nothing...?"

"You know something, X?" Zero said. "You're my only friend." He sat back up in the chair. "You're my only friend in the whole wide world!"

"Okay, buddy, let's get you home." I picked him up and carried him out the door.

"My daddy was Jesus!" Zero cried. "I could take anyone in this place! So come on! Put 'em up!"

I noticed Vile punched the table and muttered,

"I couldn't learn about Light or Wily..."

I was curious, but I knew Zero needed to be in bed so I left.

Zero's p.o.v.

I woke up the next morning feeling terrible. I slowly walked over to the trash can and puked until my throat was soar. When I was done, I looked up and saw X staring at me with wide eyes.

"... Good morning."

"... ... What the fuck was I doing last night?"

"You were with Vile getting drunk. Don't worry, I don't think anything bad happened. Good news, I passed the Chaser Bike test."

"Ah, good going, buddy. Now you can drive yourself to the Academy. Speaking of the Academy, we'd better get a move on!"

"... By the way, Zero. Do you know anyone named Light or Wily?"

"Hmm. The latter sounds familiar, but I don't think so, no. Why?"

"Vile mentioned something about not finding out about them last night. I guess he was asking the wrong people. Well, we should start going."

Right before we headed out, I noticed I had a letter attached to my door.

"That's weird, no one ever writes to me." I opened it. "A bill!? For property damage and fifty bottles of booze!? What the fuck was I doing last night!?"

"Hey, you've got another one."

"Huh!?" I snatched it.

'Dear, Rapunzel, (or Banana Man as you prefer) this was originally my bill, however since you were responsible for most of it except for the booze I bought, I thought it was only fitting to give it to you. You'd better pay up soon, or you'll have to work there. Sincerely, have a wonderful day. xoxo - Vile.'

I crumbled his note.

"SERIOUSLY! THE FUCK WAS I DOING LAST NIGHT!?"

 **Yeah, I don't know what I was smoking to come up with this either. XD Review!**


	7. Zero's push

Zero's p.o.v.

I just got finished with Saber training when my purple rival popped up in front of me.

"Hey, Rapunzel."

"What do you want?"

"It's about this bet of ours..."

"Oh that? Yeah, I'm working on it. X is coming along great, actually-"

"No, I've just realized that you're taking too long. So how about we make a limit? I want Mega Man X to be a skilled Hunter, if not a better Hunter than you, by the end of the year."

"What!? But that's only three months away!"

"I don't have all century for X to grow a spine, and Iris isn't gonna stay single forever if neither of us land a move."

I growled right before an idea came to my mind.

"Alright, bucket head, but I'd like to throw in some steaks of my own," I said with a smirk. "If X and I do this, then you have to walk around for twenty four hours with pink butterflies painted on your helmet wearing a tiara, and try seeing if Iris still wants you."

I can't see his face, but I'm pretty sure Vile was staring at me with his mouth wide open.

"F-fine. But if you loose this bet, you have to do the same!"

"Ha ha! Fine."

I angrily marched through the Academy. X was no where near being a Hunter, he needed way more than three months. That power that I knew was in him, I needed to find a way to unleash it. I needed to give him a little push.

I stared at the mission bill board looking for a rough mission for me and the blue bomber. Eventually, one particular mission caught my eye. It was helping a C Class Hunter named Magma Dragoon finding a Maverick in a volcano.

"Hello, little push!" I found X in the middle of warming up in the martial arts dojo. "Hey! See you're already in here, I was looking for you." I walked up to him and showed him a mission flier. "Good news, I found another mission for us, maybe we can redeem ourselves."

"A-a volcano? What if our armor melts?"

 _"Fighting students, report to the saber dojo."_

"HASHORYUKEN!"

I kicked him into the wall.

X's p.o.v.

Zero was already on his bike and started riding down the road. He stopped when he saw I wasn't following, and instead staring at my own bike.

"You coming? Is your bike not working?"

I gripped the handle.

 _It's terrifying, but... I have to do this!_ I zoomed past him. Seeing as I was ready, he drove after me. "... Stronger," I whispered. "I need to get stronger...!"

Eventually, we got to the volcano where a large dragon-like Reploid was at the base waiting for us patiently.

"Are you the two students who're supposed to help me today?"

"Yes, sir," we said in unison.

"Good. The Maverick we're after has yet to be identified, but we tracked him down here. I fought him head-on, he should be easy enough for rookies like you two. Head in and keep your guards up, we'll be accompanied by my Navigator."

"Hey, boys," a girl said through our communicators. "My name is Lumba, I'll be taking care of you for this mission."

"We're going in. Are you rookies ready?"

We nodded. Dragoon ran in first, beckoning us to follow silently. Zero started to run in, but he stopped and turned around.

I wasn't moving, but was staring at the heated area, trembling from fear like hell. He grabbed my hand with a trusting smile. I formed a firm grip around his hand with both of mine, and my fear slowly faded. I smiled, and we headed in.

"Heads up, Dragoon," Lumba said, "the Maverick's close."

I lightly gasped, backing up to get my back against a wall. The wall I chose to lean against was a bit of a poor choice, because it was right next to a ledge with magma and a bridge at the bottom. Right as that caught my vision, I saw a figure in a cloak start to run across the bridge. I recognized that cloak as the one the Maverick we were chasing was wearing.

I didn't want to shoot him, and even if I did, I didn't have aim. So, I did the next logical thing. I shot the path in front of him, then the path behind him. The pieces of the rock bridge were destroyed, leaving him stranded in one spot.

"What were you shooting a-" Dragoon noticed that I'd trapped the Maverick, who was giving me the middle finger. "Nice." He flew up and held up a gun. "You're under arrest!"

The Maverick jumped up and shot Dragoon into the wall behind him.

"Dragoon!"

The Maverick punched me in the face, knocking me into the ground. I got up as fast as I could to see Zero's saber slash being blocked by a giant white gun. I knew then that it was the Maverick we'd been chasing.

Zero shoved him away.

"So, you escaped did ya?" he asked. "It looks like H.Q. didn't capture you at all... Did they, Vile?"

"Vile?" I repeated.

The Maverick didn't move for a second. He out of nowhere fired his gun at Zero, who ducked forward allowing the shot to miss him by a centimeter, and instead tearing a hole in his hair. Zero attempted to pierce his armor, but he slid out of the way and hit his neck before he could, knocking him unconscious.

I stood there in shock. The Maverick seemed to sense my fear, as he ran off. I didn't think about him, but instead ran towards my only source of hope.

"ZERO!" I fell on my knees and shook him. "Zero! Zero, are you okay!?"

He coughed up blood and looked at me.

"Where did... he go?"

"I-I don't know, I wasn't looking."

He grunted and stood up, wiping the blood from his mouth.

"Where's Dragoon?"

The Hunter stood up from the rubble, sending it off of him with his wings.

"It looks like that Maverick was holding back when I fought him before," he said as he dusted his wings off. "Did you see where he went?"

"N-no, sir."

"Crap. Okay, rookies, it seems this might be a bit too much for you after all. Lumba will guide you out of here, follow her directions and get the hell outta here."

"... Roger."

Zero's p.o.v.

We had to cautiously climb down some rocks of the inside of the volcano, it wasn't as easy as it was to climb inside of it.

X was looking at the ground the whole time with a look of guilt glued to his face. He never made eye contact with me, nor did he even look at me. He didn't take my hand when I reached to help him down, ether. Growing tired of his attitude, I tried talking to him.

"I thought that Maverick might've been Vile, but Vile's not that strong." No response. I sighed. _Well, if I can't get him to talk, I might as well try to make him smile._ I blushed at the first idea I came up with and got in front of him, walking backwards. "But hey, he shot my hair pretty well. Look at it! It's all messed up! Ha ha..."

Lumba chuckled at my statement.

He looked up finally.

"Did you say something?"

I'm actually relieved he didn't hear that.

"Err, never mind."

"Boys! Get out of there now! The Maverick is close by! I'm sending Magma Dragoon over right now!"

X's eyes widened. I grabbed him and we started running again. After a few minutes, we'd stopped to hide and rest, both of us were out of breath.

"A-are we gonna die?"

"Quiet."

"We're gonna die here, I know we're gonna die."

"Quiet, X!"

"We're gonna die...!"

He immediately covered his mouth when the sounds of a Reploid's footsteps sounded outside our hiding spot. I held my breath, praying he'd go away, and I could tell X was doing the same while doing his best not to start crying.

I looked back down at the blue bomber.

 _I almost forgot. I'm sensing an extraordinary power somewhere in X. I think he might be programmed to be extremely strong, way stronger than I am. But what's keeping him from reaching his full potential? ... Maybe he's not feeling it. Sometimes one's full strength can only come out when they really need it. Well tell me X, will you need it to save your life? I only have three months. If I loose this bet, then I'll be humiliated and loose the only woman I'll ever love forever, so you have to unleash it NOW!_

I grabbed him and threw him out.

"W-WAH!"

 _Show me your power, Mega Man X!_

X slowly stood up right as the Maverick noticed him. He held up his Buster, but he was trembling more than ever. The Maverick punched him into the ground and started digging his foot into his face, causing him to scream in pain.

 _... What're you doing? You can hold your Buster up, shoot him!_

He continued to scream in pain.

"AAAUUUGH! HELP ME, ZERO!"

 _... W-was I wrong!? I thought I saw unbelievable amounts of potential inside of him, I thought he could be as strong as Commander Sigma. Was I..._ His screams blocked out my thoughts. I couldn't bear to see him like that. I ran forward, about to slice the Maverick with my saber. "CUT IT OUT!"

I didn't hit anything. When I opened my eyes, I saw Magma Dragoon holding up X and pointing at a burned black coat with a gun dripping lava.

"D-Dragoon..."

The Maverick got up and fled.

"Damn it! Get back here!" Dragoon roared. He tossed X at my feet. "You two get outta here, it's clear that neither of you rookies are ready to take this outlaw on!" He ran after him.

I looked down at X. He couldn't talk, but I could tell just by looking in his eyes, he was wondering why I did that to him, and why I didn't help him.

I bent down and picked him up, and I got the hell out of there.

* * *

I went back to the Academy to give X repairs and to report to Commander Sigma. He sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"Each time you two go on a mission, the Maverick always gets away and there's a panic. You're causing more trouble for the H.Q.!"

"I'm sorry, sir..."

"I can't allow this. You two are prohibited from going on any other new missions until you reach the next rank."

"B-but, sir-"

"I won't argue with you, Zero. You are excused."

I lowered my head in shame.

"Yes, sir..." I left his room and went to the repair room where X was getting his face fixed. "Hey, buddy," I said. "Sorry about what happened back ther-"

"Zero." X looked up at me with tears streaming down his face. "Don't ever make me do that again..."

"... No... No, you won't. ... We're done."

I left, closing the door behind me. I knew it was over, I had lost the bet.


	8. I thought we already were friends

Zero's p.o.v.

Yes, X did come home that night, but late around midnight. I was already in my pod, but I saw him walk past me and fall face-first in his pod. I stared at his pod long after the lid closed.

It was my fault he was in repairs for a second time, and it was my fault he was in repairs for the first time. I just had to make that stupid bet, and pick any random loser I saw, not even caring how much strain it would have on them.

"You dumbass," I said to myself as I face palmed.

I didn't even bother waking him up that morning and drove to the Academy myself. Sighing with my hand on the knob, I prepared myself for Vile's reaction when I told him that this bet was off.

A Buster shot missed my head by a few inches. I hurled around to see X standing straight, pointing his Buster at me, with one eye twitching, and the pupil in the other eye smaller than the other.

"X? What're you doi-"

"ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE!?" he roared. "I almost died back there...! I ALMOST FUCKING DIED!" He punched me twice across the face. "WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU DO THAT TO ME!?"

"I-I'm sorry-" He punched me straight in the face, making me fall over and break down the door. I sat up and put my hands up defensively, terrified. "I was being retarded, something was wrong with my screws, I don-" He fired a shot at my head. "AH!"

"You bet something'll be wrong with your screws by the time I'm done with you...!"

"Heh heh..." I stood up and ran. "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" He ran after me, firing Buster shots and occasional punches at me. "HELP, THERE'S A CRAZY PSYCHO TRYING TO KILL ME!"

"YOU TRIED TO KILL ME FIRST!" X roared as he attempted to punch me again. It missed me, and he instead put a hole in the wall. Lucky for me, his hand got stuck in there, giving me time to run into another room and slam the door shut.

"Rapunzel?" Vile was in the room, looking like he was about to bang Iris. "What're you doing?"

I gasped for my breath back.

"Well, I was coming in here to say I'm giving up on the bet, but... I think I might still have a chance."

X's fist broke through the door and sent me into the wall between Vile and Iris. The blue bomber burst through the door and angrily grabbed my hair, pulling me off of the wall and holding his fist up.

"YOU SICK MOTHERFUCKER!"

What he did to me after that... I'm surprised I'm alive.

X angrily walked away, growling a bit.

"Z-Zero?" Iris asked as she sat next to me. "A-are you okay? What happened to that gu-"

"Ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha! I knew it! I knew I wasn't wrong! Ha ha ha ha!"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Ha ha ha ha!" _I knew it. He does have potential. His full power... he just unleashed it on me! He can be a Hunter, I know he can._ "Ha ha ha ha! You're gonna lose this bet in no time, bucket head!"

Vile didn't answer.

X's p.o.v.

I didn't stay at the Academy, but instead went back to the apartment to clean the place up. It took the entire day, but it was something to do. Around ten o' clock, Zero came back through the door with a few stitches on his armor.

"Hey," he said. "So you came back?"

"Of course. Before I met you I was living on a wall."

"Uh, I'm sorry about what happened in the volca-"

"Don't worry about it, I forgive you," I said as I rang out a sponge. "I just had some rage I needed to let loose today, don't worry about it."

"... You're forgiving me just like that?"

"Why not?" I continued to scrub the floor. "If I'm gonna continue living with you and helping you win the bet, then holding a grudge against you would be a bad idea."

"You still wanna help me win that damn thing?"

"Yeah," I said blankly as if I didn't hear him.

"... Why, though?" he asked. "Why do you wanna help me win this stupid bet so badly? And how are you so quick to forgive me after I nearly got you killed?"

I stopped scrubbing, but continued to stare at the floor.

"Because... if I don't make you win that bet, and if I don't forgive you then..." I hesitated to say the rest. "I... I can never be your friend."

"... That's all? You just wanna be my friend?"

"You're the only person I've met in a long time who's never gotten annoyed by my patheticness, and I feel safe around you," I said, still not looking up. "You even encourage me to be the best that I can be, and you don't get mad if I screw things up... So I want to be your friend. And if I don't help you, then there's no way you'll ever accept me..." I smiled. "Use me. Use me to win, I'm happy to comply."

He chuckled.

"Man, and I thought I was stupid," he said. "I don't need to win this thing to be your friend. I thought I already was." I didn't respond to that. "Come here." I didn't look up at him. "Come here," he repeated. I looked up finally to see him holding out his arms, smiling gently. "Come on, my arms are getting tired, give me a hug already."

I stared at him in shock for a while as countless tears streamed down my face. Not even trying to stop or even subdue my sobs, I jumped up and grabbed the red Reploid, pressing my face against his chest. His arms gently wrapped around me, calming me slightly. Never once before in my life had I felt so safe and warm.

Zero lightly moved his hand down my back.

"I understand you now," he said soothingly. "I know now why you didn't leave. You didn't stay here because you wanted to be stronger, or because you wanted to help society, or because you even wanted to do something with your life. You stayed because you were lonely." My sobbing lightly subdued, but my grip around him was still tight. "And, if I'm honest..." He patted my back gently. "I'm lonely, too."

I stopped crying and slightly looked up at him.

"H-huh...?"

"I mean, why do you think I was so desperate to win a bet to get a girlfriend? Ha ha..." Each word he said soothed me. "And why do you think I take every opportunity I can get to talk to you?" He looked me in the eyes. "I guess we're both just lonely losers. Ha ha ha!"

My grip around him tightened, and I started crying again.

"D-don't ever l-leave me...," I whispered, trying to hold back another sob. "Use me t-to your h-heart's content, m-make me a slave...! Just... p-please don't ever leave me alone...!"

He chuckled again and tightened his grip around me.

"I won't. Thanks again for agreeing to help me with this."

"Y-you dragged me into it..."

"Hey." He gently pulled me off of him and looked me in the eye. "I think I know how I can help you. I thought I sensed a power programmed in you, and you just unleashed it on me today at the Academy."

"I-I'm sorry-"

"Are you kidding!? That's fantastic!" he cried. "So anyway, I feel like the only thing that's keeping you from reaching your full potential is that big heart of yours. So, all I ask in return for not ever leaving you, is to let me unlock that power. I promise, this has nothing to do with the bet."

I smiled and stood up. Wiping my eyes, I nodded.

"All right. But how am I supposed to do it? I don't wanna hurt anybody."

Zero rubbed his arm.

"Could've fooled me... Don't worry, I can help you out with it. Whaddya say we start tomorrow? Tomorrow's Sunday, we're free from the Academy."

"A-all right. But how do you expect to work with this paranoid attitude of mine?"

"Heh heh heh. I'll find a way."

Zero's p.o.v.

On Monday, I strode into the Academy up to my purple rival with a smug grin on my face.

"Why hello, bucket head~ Isn't it a wonderful day today?"

"Err, I guess so. What do you want, Rapunzel?"

I snickered evilly.

"The boy," I said, "is ready."

X stepped onto the shooting field and held his Buster up towards the target. He fired, destroying the target completely. While Vile was staring at him dumbstruck, the blue bomber slid under him and punched him in the back of the head, making him hit the ground. The second his face slammed against the dirt, he grabbed his arm and pulled it back while pushing down on his shoulder, keeping him pinned to the ground.

I felt myself crying tears of joy.

"They grow up so fast..."

X stood up and held out his hand.

"Sorry, I was told you wouldn't mind that so much."

Vile slapped his hand away and stood up on his own.

"Rapunzel," he said, "the fuck did you do to him?"

"Hee hee. Just a little bit of training 24/7 non-stop, and plenty of milk," I said. "Sooo, does this mean I win the bet? Should I go get your pink paint?"

"W-wait," Vile said. "Yeah sure, he's strong with a bit of skill, but... wh-what's the point of that i-if um..." A light bulb popped up next to his head. "You don't have the guts to use them."

"Are you implying that X is a coward?"

"Oh, no no, not at all- Oh look, it's Chill Penguin."

X screeched and jumped up on my torso, holding up his Buster.

"... Okay, his courage we need work on, but-"

"I won't accept defeat unless he can actually _use_ the skill and strength you taught him."

I growled.

"All right, fine. We've still got two and a half months, it should be a cake walk."

"Ha ha ha! We'll see about that." Vile left, but I could hear him whisper, "Whew, that was close..."

I didn't bother going after him. I sighed and looked up at X, who was still shaking from fear like crazy.

"Wh-where's the Penguin...?"

"I said I'm gonna make a Hunter outta you, and I'm gonna make a Hunter outta you! No matter how many centuries it takes!"


	9. A bad day for X

X's p.o.v.

I woke up and opened up the lid to my pod. When I sat up, I was met with a horrifying image of a human with their flesh peeled off, and their eyes bleeding. Screaming, I shot it with my Buster, vaporizing it to reveal Zero looking annoyed.

"Really, dude? That was expensive."

I punched his head into the ground.

"You jerk! What're you doing scaring me like that!?"

"Ow...! You punch hard," he moaned. "I'm trying to work on getting you braver so you can use that power of yours without getting scared. You are welcome."

"And you think scaring the ever living shit out of me is gonna make me braver!?"

"... Yes."

I shot him in the face.

"If you don't go to hell, I swear, I'll come up there and put you there myself!"

"Yeah yeah, I look forward to it."

"Augh, you can be a bit of a pain sometimes. Just please don't tell me you're gonna do this to me the entire day," I said as I began to walk out the door. The second it opened, another mask similar to the one earlier popped out at me. First I looked at it, then at the ceiling, and then my entire back hit the floor.

Zero walked up to me and looked me in the eye.

"Yes. Yes, I am."

I shot him in the face again.

"FUCK YOU, BLONDIE!"

-In the parking lot at Maverick Hunter Academy-

"So how else do you plan to 'make me braver' today?"

"If I tell you, you won't be scared," he said as if I just asked the dumbest question in the world. "I can guarantee that by the time this day is over, the ever loving shit will be scared out of you, and you won't have anymore shit to get scared out of you."

I gulped and felt my face turn blue.

"I-I don't think I wanna go to training today-"

He dragged me by the arm.

"Come on."

"I need an adult...!"

So after shooting practice was over and saber training was in motion, I decided to take a bit of a walk around the Academy. I knew that my ponytailed friend probably set up some 'scarey' traps, so I was a bit paranoid.

With a gulp, I opened the exit door for a skeleton mask to pop out at me.

"AH!" I dashed backwards and shot it down. "Wh-what the fuck!?" I started gasping for my breath back. "D-did he just expect no one else to come through here!?" I attempted to open the door, but it was locked. "And does he really expect no one to wanna leave? What's his prob-"

The lights went off. I heard something creaking towards me, but no one was behind me. The creaking kept getting louder and louder, and the room seemed to be getting darker each time it got closer to me.

I whimpered quietly and held up my shaking Buster. Something cracked behind me, making me scream and turn around.

Laughter sounded right behind me making me scream again and back up towards the wall.

"What the fuck is he doing to me!?"

Backing up, I noticed that there was something on the light switch that had flipped it off, and a recording by my feet that was making the sounds. I put my hand on my chest and sighed. I wish I hadn't turned on the lights, though.

"Hi."

"AH! Ch-Chill Penguin!"

"Hold still!"

He attempted to shoot me with the Shotgun Ice, but I ran out of the way, screaming. Eventually, I lost him by hiding behind some lockers. Sighing in relief, I leaned on the locker to get some rest. The second I touched the locker, a joker clown face popped out at me.

"AAH!" I started running away again until a skeleton doll hit me in the face. Without removing it, I huffed and said, "You know what, I've seen shit today. Absolute shit! So you know what, Zero? Bring it on. Whatever bullshit thing you've got to scare me, bring it on!" I removed the doll to see armor piercing spikes on the floor and ceiling. "WHAT!? WHAT!? WHAT!? WHAT?! WHAT!? WHAT!? WHAT!? WHAT!? WHAT!? WHAT!?"

"X?"

"I get it now! This place is supposed to be punishment for me to repent all of my sins! Fine! If it'll make you get those motherfucking one-hit kill spikes away from me, I'll confess! I'LL CONFESS! I WAS THE ONE WHO ENCOURAGED THE MAKING OF MMX7! I WAS THE ONE WHO DECIDED TO CANCEL MMX9! I WAS THE ONE WHO DECIDED TO MAKE AXL DISAPPEAR OFF THE FACE OF THE PLANET! I WAS THE ONE WHO DECIDED TO GIVE US ALL WHINEY VOICES IS MMX4! I'M THE ONE WHO ENCOURAGED SONIC THE HEDGEHOG TO BE A THING! I'M THE ONE CONVINCING MARIANNESINGER16 TO POST TOO MANY MEGA MAN FANFICTIONS! JUST GET THOSE FUCKING THINGS AWAY FROM ME!"

"... Are you alright?"

I shook him by the shoulders, crying.

"I CONFESSED SO GET THEM AWAY FROM ME, CHILL PENGUIN! PLEASE GET THEM AWAY FROM ME!"

Zero's p.o.v.

I walked out of the saber dojo to see X clinging to Chill Penguin, who looked pretty confused and disturbed.

"Oh, hey there, X!" I said. "So did you see my little jumpscares?"

"Uh-huh..."

"Do you feel any braver?" He fell over. "I guess not."

"What the f-UACK is going on?"

I sighed.

"I'm trying to help X with his courage."

"By... scaring the living shit out of him?"

"Could you think of anything better?" I asked as I picked him up. "I've got him from here."

"Wait! I need his limbs for my machine!"

"Go fuck yourself."

* * *

"Hey, Rapunzel!" a cocky voice hovering above my head called out. "How's the courage training with X-ey going?"

"It's going great," I said. "X, you ready for the Martial Arts training?"

He was clinging to my leg.

"Yeah... let's go..."

"Well, at least you're talking now."

Vile landed down in front of me.

"What the fuck did you do to him?"

"Nothing!"

"Spikes... the spikes...!"

"Quiet, X..."

"You brought spikes in here!? Are you mad!?"

"Relax," I said, "they were rubber." X hit me on the head with his Buster. "OW!" He just glared at me, grunting angrily with his eyes being the same as in the last chapter.

"... Fuck you, blondie."

Vile laughed.

"You two are hilarious!"

"Found you, boys!" a certain yandere squealed. "Hi there, I've been looking for you two forever! Do you think you two can finally make some hot gay sex for me, please?"

I was about to pull off the 'what's that behind you' routine, but then I got an idea, and whispered it into the blond's ear with a devilish smirk.

"Oh, sure! Of course, honey, I'll gladly do that, but only once you make out for me."

"Do wha-" Before X could finish, I slammed him into the wall. I held his feet against the floor and his wrists against the wall and made my engine as hot as possible. "Z-Zero, what're you do-" I bit the back of his neck, making his engine as hot as mine. "AAAH- Mmff!" He couldn't even scream as I slipped my tongue as far into his mouth as possible. _I NEED A FUCKING ADULT!_

"Ah~" Alia squeeled. "They are so hot!"

Vile pulled out a bowl of popcorn.

* * *

That actually knocked X out, mainly because of shock.

"Are you sure this will work, Alia?"

"Trust me! Once he sees this, nothing can ever scare him again!"

He woke up to see that Alia was right in front of his face wearing a clown mask with knives on the sides. ... X fainted again.

"I don't think this is making him any braver," I said with a sigh.

"Ya don't say?" Vile said sarcastically. "Look, unless this guy is about to move without trembling, I won't accept defeat in this bet- Wait, why are you still making the bet to get Iris if you've got a gay boyfri-"

SMACK.

Noticing Alia was still watching, I quickly said,

"I'm bisexual, I like both men and women."

Alia squealed.

"That's even hotter!" She gasped. "That means you must love me, too!"

"Erm... Uh... Uh... THE FUCK IS THAT!?"

That's when I used the old gag to get myself and X the hell out of there.

X's p.o.v.

I woke up during the evening, but I didn't get up. My knees were to my chest, I was on the floor, and I was shaking like crazy.

"Skeletons... creaking... Penguin... spikes... raped... Alia... Alia in a scary mask..."

"Hey," Zero said once my eyes popped open. "So do you feel any braver?"

"I was just tortured for several hours, raped, and then I saw that thing before I woke up," I said, still rocking back and forth. "To answer your question, I don't really think so..."

"Yeah, I think I might've scarred you for life."

I got up and angrily punched him into the wall, screaming in anger.

"WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU DO THAT TO ME!? YOU FUCKING RAPED ME!"

"Th-that was for our own good!"

"I'M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU!" He dodged my punch, letting me put a hole in the wall. I held my Buster up towards him and charged up a shot. "HOLD THE FUCK STILL, PONYTAIL!"

"Stop wrecking my apartment! I live here!"

I shot, but he got out of the way.

"HOLD THE FUCK STILL!" I stopped firing and started panting. "You know, Zero," I said, "you're gonna die someday... And when that day comes, I'll be singing and dancing like no tomorrow. Now hold still!"

"You yell like you actually expect me to do it." I shot him again. "... Uh, th-there's a zombie behind you..."

I screamed and ducked under my pod.

"PLEASE NO MORE FOR TODAY! I'VE HAD ENOUGH!"

"Aheh heh, I guess I overdid it a bit... Well, thanks for reading. Review, or we go bye-bye."

 **Yeah, I'm not proud of this one. =P**


	10. Enough of this! I'm tired of trembling!

Alia's p.o.v.

Every time boys see me, they run like hell. They think of me as just a love-crazy psycho path who tortures people who aren't interested in me. And yes, they're right, but no one has ever bothered to wonder why I'm like this.

A few years after I was built... I was raped... by a gay female Maverick. I didn't know she was gay at the time, nor did I know she was a Maverick. I thought that was just the nature of female Reploids. I still remember what she looks like to this very day, and that night still brings to me nightmares.

From that point on, I found it hard to trust people, especially females, weather human or Reploid. The only person I thought of as a family was a human male named Arnold who fixed me after I was raped. When I asked him why he helped me, he told me that even though I was a Reploid, it was a man's duty to be there for a woman, and that a man who would leave a woman alone when in need are animals. Because of that, I began to think that all men would have an attraction for me, and if they didn't then they were horrible people. I never hung out with females because of what had happened, but every oportunity I had to flirt with boys, I took. I deeply respected Arnold, but I didn't feel an attraction towards him as I wasn't his species, though he felt like a father to me.

And then, someone took him from me.

A Maverick. She came into our lab and tore him apart, escaping before H.Q. could come to stop her. I was out at the time, but the security cameras told me exactly what she looked like. It was the exact same Reploid who had raped me. I decided to become a Maverick Hunter to find her, and kill her.

I'd snapped. After that day, I'd decided that I couldn't trust women, and that I absolutely _needed_ a man to protect me. If they refused to love and protect me, then they deserved to die. I would kill them.

And on 6/1/16, the Maverick had been spotted in town. I wanted to kill her. And I knew just the Hunters to do it for me.

X's p.o.v.

Zero and I were on our Chaser Bikes pulling up to the Academy.

"Please tell me you're done with scaring me, and that there'll be no gay raping today..."

"I can't make any promises," he said. "This is a crazy school."

"Hi, boys."

"AAAHH!" I jumped back and held up my Buster while Zero picked up his Chaser Bike. "WHAT NOW, ALIA!? WE ALREADY MADE GAY SEX FOR YOU, WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT FROM US!?"

She grabbed my Buster and looked me dead in the eye, like she was about to kill me. She let go and motioned us to follow her to the back of the Academy. Once she left, we tried to run away from her, but she grabbed us and pulled us over there.

"So what is it?"

"I want you to kill somebody for me," she said. "A Maverick has been spotted somewhere around the city. This Maverick in particular, I really want dead. I'll pay you for it, so just do as I say."

"Um, Alia, this is a bit out of our league, why don't you let H.Q. take care of it?"

"H.Q. doesn't even know that they've gone Maverick, and they won't listen to me because I don't have any proof."

"Well then how do you know they've gone Maverick?"

"Let's just say... that I have my ways."

We both grew extremely skeptical of that line. I didn't understand 'women's intuition' all that well, but I was pretty sure it didn't give you the ability to tell weather someone's gone Maverick or not. I noticed that Zero raised an eyebrow.

"Why don't you get your boyfriend Storm Eagle to do this?"

"He decided to break up with me, and let's just say... he won't be using the Storm Tornado properly for a month." We didn't exactly know what to say to that. "Come on! Men are supposed to be there for their damsels, aren't they? I'll even navigate you on the mission, so just do it."

"Well," I said, "we've got nothing else better to do."

"I guess not. Alright, Alia, you've got yourself a deal."

"Ah, good. If you'd refused, I would've had to kill you. I even brought all of these knives."

"HOW THE FUCK DID YOU GET IN HERE WITH KNIVES!?"

* * *

Zero and I started searching the city looking for Alia's description of the Maverick: 'Green armor, yellow hair in a bun, and wears a type of gas mask.' No one we'd asked had matched or seen the description, and every corner had appeared to be empty.

"I don't think they're in the city."

"Fuck!" Alia cursed through the speakers. "Well, what're you two just standing there for!? Look outside the city!"

"Alright, calm down," Zero said as he hopped on his bike and zoomed off.

I quickly followed him. "Hey, Alia," I said, "you seem really desperate to catch this Maverick, is there a particular reason why?"

It sounded like Alia was pained by my question.

"I just want to contribute to society."

By the time we'd gotten to the woods, an explosion went off in front of me, causing me to stop in my tracks.

"The fuck was-" Zero came flying towards me, followed by his bike which landed right on his left arm, making him scream. "Z-Zero!" I jumped off the bike and got him out from under the contraption. "Zero! What the fuck happened!?"

I looked up and saw what had caused the explosion, a female Reploid who matched the Maverick description, juggling with a few bombs.

"That's her!" Alia cried. "That's the Maverick! Shoot her!" I held up my buster, but my trembling returned. She threw the bomb at me, causing me to flinch. It turns out, it was really just a smoke bomb that allowed them to escape without my notice.

"Damn it!" I snapped.

Zero stood up and held his broken arm.

"Took the words right out of my mouth," he said. "Alia, do you have a signal on her?"

"The bitch ran off to your right! Hurry up!"

I honestly didn't know who to be scared of, Alia or the Maverick. Then I remembered that I shouldn't be afraid of anybody. I had to get braver in order to win my new friend's respect.

We eventually found her on the top of a cave entrance.

"What the hell is she doing up there?" Zero asked. "X, you think you can shoot her d-"

"WATCH OUT!"

I was able to shove him out of the way before the falling bombs could hit us.

"Whoa! This chick's got real bombs!"

"Okay, that sounds vaguely dirty..."

She also apparently had terrible aim, or we were just too fast, as we were able to dodge all of her bombs. I'd hoped that we could just keep dodging until she ran out of bombs and then apprehend her, that way no one would have to get hurt. But her bomb supply seemed endless.

"X, do you think you can shoot her down!?" Alia called through my speakers.

I gulped and held up my Buster. Before she could toss another bomb, I shot the rocks underneath her, allowing her to fall down towards us. She seemed to be surfing the rocks, and she landed straight on her feet and held up another bomb.

"H... hold still," I muttered under my breath.

"We're Maverick Hunters," Zero said as he pulled out his saber, "you're under arrest!" She threw another bomb at him, which he slashed in half and dashed towards her, cutting across her chest, causing her to step backwards. "X, shoot her!"

I held up my Buster and charged it. ... I trembled.

 _Not now! Please, please not now!_

Zero noticed my trembling, and quickly dashed forward to slash her. Before he could, she pulled out another bomb that she immediately set off, sending him flying into me.

"Are you boys alright!?" Alia cried. The Maverick held up another bomb. "She's about to throw another one! Kill her!" She got ready to throw it.

"G-get that away!" I cried as I fired my Buster. My shot hit her bomb right before she threw it, making it explode in her face. I slowly opened my eyes to see what I'd done. "HOLY CRAP, I KILLED HER!"

"That was awesome," Zero breathed.

The smoke cleared to reveal the Maverick still standing, just crooked, staring right at me.

"Damn kid...!"

"I-I'm sorry-"

Zero stood up and pulled out his saber.

"You saw that, he has perfect aim and can shoot before you throw one of your bombs!" The Maverick smiled. "Your only option is to surren-" Something exploded on his shoulder. "ACK!"

"Z-Zero!"

"Damn it...! She must've planted something on me when I cut her...!"

She laughed. "Sorry, Mr. Maverick Hunter, but I'm not ready to be arrested just yet." She ran off before either of us could react.

"A-are you alright?"

"Engh...! I'm fine."

"Don't just sit there!" Alia screeched. "Get her! Kill her!"

"Calm down, Alia, we're doing what we can," Zero snapped. "Let's go. Be careful, and back me up, X." He noticed I was staring at his extremely damaged arm. "I'm fine, really, let's just apprehend this Maverick before she does worse to others."

* * *

I eventually found her hiding under a rock with a hurt leg, obviously the reason why she was hiding. Under her legs was the bag that contained the remains of her bombs, and if I shot those, then she would be done for. I held up my Buster, but my trembling returned.

"Shoot her," Alia whispered. "Shoot her! FUCKING SHOOT HER!"

"Shh! Quiet," I whispered, even though I knew only I could hear her. Quiet and frustrated whimpering went through my speakers, gripping my attention and concern. "A-Alia...?"

"You're a man," she said through her tears, "s-so you have to be there for me... One man sh-showed me that a knight will always b-be there t-to sweep me off my feet, weather it was because they were attracted to me or not. He protected me, rebuilt me, and raised me for years..." Her sobbing continued. "And she took him..."

I looked at the Maverick.

"You mean... she killed him."

"SHE TOOK HIM!" she sreeched. "Now look at me... S-she did this t-to me... If she hadn't r-raped me th-then... I-I wouldn't b-be this- this Reploid... You're a man, so you have to help-"

She didn't get to finish her sentence as an explosion rang through her speakers. The Maverick, along with the small area she was in, had been destroyed. No matter how strong her armor was, it couldn't survive an explosion that big. I was holding up my Buster towards the spot where the bombs had been.

"I see now," I said. "If Mavericks are allowed to roam free, then someone like you could spawn from their work." I smiled, and tried to imitate Zero's soothing and warm voice. "Don't worry, I won't let them do anything like that again, I promise."

Everything was silent for what felt like forever. I could almost feel her teardrops running onto me, and I could see her pain breaking in front of me.

I didn't know why everything in my Code was telling me to comfort her. She was a horny psycho who forced me into gay activity multiple times. But... she... protected me from Chill Penguin. Yes, sure, she was doing it in a terrifying manner, but she did it for me. And it wasn't even her fault she was like that! And... she was cute...

Zero's p.o.v.

"... The fuck was that explosion!?"

I ran in the direction I thought I saw it come from to see X standing across from the destroyed area. He was standing straight and firm with his Buster activated. His trembling had ceased.

"X, what the fuck happened he-"

"We won't have to worry about the Maverick anymore," he said. "I understand what I have to do now, Zero." He looked up, showing narrowed and serious eyes. "I'm ready to be a Maverick Hunter. I'm not scared anymore."

I felt like crying tears of joy as I jumped onto his shoulders, celebrating my ass off.

"FINALLY, I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT, THANK YOU SO MUCH!"

"GET OFF OF ME!" He punched me off of him and into a rock.

"Aww," Alia said, "I was so close to seeing man-to-man action again."

"Why is nobody at this Academy sane?" X whined.

"Ha ha ha! Ha ha ha! This is fantastic, X!" I cheered, not getting up from the rock. "This means we've won the bet! Ha ha! Oh man, I can't wait to see the look on good ol' bucket head's face when he finds out about this! Ha ha ha!"

"What bet?" Alia asked.

X didn't seem to hear her as he smiled and offered to help me up.

"I'm glad I could help, I hope Ms. Iris is interested in you."

I took his hand and stood up, still laughing.

"I don't even care about that anymore, I just wanna see him get pissed at me. I can hear him now, 'Damn you Rapunzel, I swear by my guns I will get you for this, you bastard'!"

"Ha ha ha!"

"Oh," said a deep voice behind me, "so it was you two rookies."

X looked like there was a ghost standing behind me. I slowly turned around with a similar expression, shaking like hell, because I knew exactly who it was.

"C-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-Commander Sigma!"

"I couldn't help but notice you two went after a Maverick, when this wasn't a mission assigned to the Academy. And also when I specifically told you that you both were prohibited from going on any missions until you were promoted, Zero."

"Um, w-we-"

"Save your excuses," Sigma growled. "Breaking two rules in one day, causing serious damage to the public forest... You two are expelled."


	11. This new life is looking fantastic!

X's p.o.v.

We were in Zero's apartment that evening, still absorbing everything that had happened. Zero was on his knees, staring blankly at the ceiling. I waved my hand in front of him, but he didn't seem to notice. I sighed heavily and hit my head against the wall.

"... I'm sorry."

I slightly jumped at the sudden voice in the room. No one else was in there except for me and my red friend. "... A-Alia? Are communications are still on?"

"I'm sorry, X-ey, it was my fault you got expelled."

"D-don't worry about it," I said. "I can understand why you wanted that Maverick dead so badly, I was more than happy to do that favor for you." _Plus, if it was her fault that you're like..._ _this_ _, then she really needed to fucking die!_

Alia lightly giggled.

"That's so sweet! It's too bad you're gay, otherwise I'd be going over there to arrange our marriage right now."

I sweat dropped. "Aheh heh..." _Zero and I can't pull off that damn lie forever. Hopefully by the time she gets older she'll move on from boys and we can confess that we're both straight. Maybe someday..._ "Hmm?"

Zero lifted his hands and finally showed a reaction.

"FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCK!" He got up and tossed his pod across the room. "FUCK!"

"Da fuck, man!? Calm dow-"

"FUCK MY LIFE, FUCK MY JOB, AND FUCK EVERYTHING!"

Zero's p.o.v.

I was walking down the road, muttering curse words to myself. I'd lost my dream, I'd lost the bet, and the only plus to this was that I wouldn't have to fufill the second end of the bet with Vile. Right as I was realizing that, Vile came into my line of sight. I started to walk away when...

"Not so fast, Rapunzel," he said. "I heard some juicy news that you and Mega Man X have been expelled from the Academy."

"Grr...! Yeah, which means I've lost this fucking bet. But it also means that I won't be able to go with the second end of it!"

"Ha ha ha ha! You still think that this is about that stupid bet to get with that stupid girl?"

"... Well, I did..." I took a step back and gripped my Z-saber. "Up until you chuckled like that..." He charged to strike me with his gun. I took another step back and blocked it.

"Ha ha ha ha ha! You're even dumber than I gave you credit for, Rapunzel!"

I tossed him off of me.

"What the hell are you doing, Vile!? Have you gone Maverick!?"

"I've been a Maverick for quite some time," he sneered. "You're a complete ignoramus if you couldn't tell that the Mavericks that you chased on your two missions was I."

 _I fucking knew it!_ "B-but Commander Sigma said H.Q. caught the Maverick from our first mission!"

"He did? Well, whatever, it was obviously just a slip-up." He pulled his gun over his shoulder and pointed it at me. "But the main slip-up is you ever trusting me." He pulled the trigger.

The shot fired around the edge of my neck and side of my face. Blood streamed down my body as I fell on the road. I could feel my consciousness slip away as my upper body was dragged across the concrete, leaving a trail of blood.

 _Then... what was the point...? What was the point of the bet? Why did you need X to become a Maverick Hunter? What was the need... for this... stupid fucking bet...?_

X's p.o.v.

"Alia, we should probably end communications. We can't abuse the circuits like this."

"B-before I hang up, I just wanted to... say thank you again." I felt myself blush slightly. "Okay, I'm shutting off comunications. Good night, X-ey..."

I smiled. Maybe Alia wasn't as creepy as I had made her out to be. As I was soaking in some happiness, a large fist punched a hole in the wall. Once they stepped in, I saw that it was a Ride Armor being driven by a familiar purple Reploid.

"Aren't you Vile? What the hell are you doing!?"

He started laughing.

"Finally! Finally, we can fight!" He fired at me.

I ducked underneath his shot and charged up my Buster. "Vile, what the hell are you doing!? Have you gone Maverick!?"

He started laughing a maniacal laughter.

"This all worked out perfectly! I've been a Maverick for so long, it's grown boring. I needed a rival to keep me on my feet, but no one was worthy of my rivalry. So I had that princess-haired moron make me one! Ha ha ha! Now I can finally fight you!"

He fired again. I shot with my Buster, and our shots cancelled each other out, creating a bit of smoke.

"... What did you just say...?" I muttered. I jumped through the smoke to punch his ride armor into the wall. "What did you just call Zero!? He's not a fucking moron!"

Vile chuckled and stood up.

"It looks like we're ready for a fight."

He charged at me again for a punch which I ducked under the ride armor to shoot him in the back. My shots didn't seem to damage his armor in the slightest, so I charged for another punch. Before I could hit him, he grabbed my wrist and squeezed it.

I screamed in pain as I felt my arm break. In an attempt to get out of his grasp, I shot him repeatedly with my Buster, only to have him grab that arm, too. He squeezed both until blood ran down my wrists, and my screaming continued.

"Come on," he growled, "come on! He made you a Hunter, didn't he!? I saw it with my own eyes!" His grip tightened. "You were meant to bring to me some excitement!"

Pissed, I flung my lower body forward to kick him again, causing him to loosen his grip so I could get the hell away. I charged up my Buster until it was at a full powered shot.

"Time for you to go to hell, Vile!" I shot it. To my horror, it did nothing. "Th... that was my strongest..."

Vile scoffed.

"Looks like once again Rapunzel has let me down." He dashed towards me and punched me into the wall, putting a hole in it. Before I could even attempt to sit up, he grabbed my neck and held me up to where he was looking me dead in the eye. "I guess that entire year at the Academy was pointless then. Oh well, it looks like I'll have to find a new rival to entertain me."

"... P-please... help me..." He shot an electric ball at me that paralyzed me. "Ze... ro..."

Zero's p.o.v.

My eyes shot open. I heard him. I heard X's voice. He was calling for help.

I looked around and saw that my hands and feet were tied to a wall while my Z-Saber was hanging on the wall across from me. Luckily, the ropes around my wrists weren't too tight, so I was able to pull away from them and untie the ropes around my ankles.

Once I was free, I grabbed my saber and ran out the door to see that I'd been in some type of shack. Luckily, it wasn't too far from the city. The pain around my face and neck ached, but I did my best to ignore it and push through.

People were concerned about the blood, but I ignored them and kept pushing towards my apartment. I know now that some people were walking up to me to try and help me, but at the time, I just saw them as getting in my way, so I pushed them aside.

I was loosing my sight, but before I could completely, I finally reached my apartment. It was almost completely destroyed, and several police cars plus a few ambulances were parked outside. I didn't pay any of them mind and ran into the rubble. I thought I heard them calling out for me to stop, but my ears were too full of my blood pumping rage for me to hear them.

Once I tripped over one of the remains of the building, a Reploid cop grabbed my shoulders and turned me to face him. I didn't hear anything he said, as my attention was on what was behind him. I shoved him off and ran towards the stretcher with the blue bomber on it.

"THAT'S MY ROOMMATE!" I cried as I started to shake him. "X! X! Get up! Get up, you moron! Wake up! X!"

I don't know how long I kept screaming. The next thing I remember after that was waking up in a hospital with a rather large stitch on my face. I turned my head over to look at the Reploid nurse stitching up my neck.

"Eh..."

"Don't talk."

"... Eh... x... X..."

"Nobody follows 'doctor's orders' anymore. Oh well, I'm done anyway." She stood up. "I'm glad you're alright. I'd advice you don't talk for a while, your throat needs time to recover. What happened to you, anyway?"

"... Wh-where's... X...?"

"That blue Reploid? He's under repairs right now. Don't worry, he'll be fine. Is he your little brother, or something?"

"... N-no," I said, "we're just friends." Even though I was telling the truth, I felt like I had told the biggest lie in existance.

"Who attacked you, anyway?"

"... Definitely the same Reploid who destroyed that old apartment. A Maverick... A purple bucket headed Maverick named Vile... He was a B Class student back at the Academy, what a waste to throw it all away for the life of a Maverick."

"And you're saying he also destroyed your apartment!?"

"Yes..."

"I'm going to give this information to Maverick Hunter H.Q. right now. You just... stay here."

She left. I didn't do as she said, I was too worried about X. I found him in the room across from me, luckily unguarded. I sat down next to him and gently slided my hand down his blue helmet.

 _"Is he your little brother or something?"_

I grabbed his hand.

 _... Yeah. Little brother. I can work with that._

X's p.o.v.

I woke up, facing the ceiling. My head never turned, and my eyes never closed. I felt terrible. The words Vile had said to me kept coursing through my brain like a boomerang.

 _"Looks like once again, Rapunzel has let me down." "I guess that entire year at the Academy was pointless then."_

... Was my friendship with Zero pointless? Would he be mad at me for this? I knew he definitely would leave me, as the whole point of our friendship was for him to use me. He would surely be mad that his efforts were all pointless.

Finally, I looked down and gasped. Zero's entire upper half was resting on my torso, and his head was facing me with his eyes completely closed, and his hand was gently gripping mine. A little scared, I started shaking him a little.

"Z-Zero-"

"Brother...," he moaned. "... X..."

I couldn't help but smile. His warmth calmed me, and I felt safe and relieved, as if the previous hours had never happened. After looking around to confirm no one was watching, I formed a grip around his hand, and put my other hand on his head. His warmth eventually took me completely, and I drifted off again.

When I woke up, it was cold. I opened my eyes to see why, my red friend wasn't there. I sighed, then I heard running footsteps. Zero burst in, doing his hardest to contain his excitement.

"They're letting us back in!"

"Whoa! Calm down, what's going on?"

"Commander Sigma's letting us back into Maverick Hunter Academy!" the blond laughed as he held my hands. "Apparently, Alia confessed it was her fault, so they let us back in!"

I sat up to look him in the eye.

"That's great!" I cheered. "But what about Alia?"

"Oh. I dunno about her, I think she got expelled in our place. That's probably what happened... We should thank her later."

I nodded in agreement as he let go of my hands and walked over to a table.

"Um... Zero," I said nervously, "I-I know we technically lost the bet, but... a-are we still-"

"Friends?" he interrupted. "Of course." He smiled and gave me a thumbs-up. "You're the best buddy I've ever had."

I felt myself blush and looked down slightly. Without looking up, I slowly moved my hand towards him to return the thumbs-up. While I was still trying, Zero grabbed my neck and started rubbing his knuckles against my head, laughing teasingly.

"Ha ha! Man, you're adorable!"

"S-stop that- Ha ha! That tickles! Ha ha ha!"

I didn't tell Zero about Vile's plan to make me his rival until later, I didn't want to ruin the greatest moment of my life. The Academy had heard that Zero's apartment had been destroyed, so they were nice enough to give us dorms. The only downside was that mine was far apart from Zero's, so I was worried I'd get a little lonely. But, I wouldn't get too lonely, as I was visited by another certain blond my first night...

"Hi," she said as she came through the window.

"AH! A-Alia!? D-don't scare me like that! I honestly shouldn't be surprised that you're still stalking me... But you shouldn't be in here, you've been expelled, haven't you?"

"Yes. You're welcome! It's a real shame you and Zero aren't sharing a dorm, I thought I'd get the chance to see you two fuck again!"

"Alia," I said, "do you think you'll ever get back into the Academy?"

"I'll get back in some day," she said. "I'll probably become an official Hunter a few years after you do. Think you can wait for me, honey?"

"You do know you'll have to be serious, right?"

"Yes yes, I know, but what do the men need me for, anyway?"

"... You're looking for a groom, right?"

"Huh?"

"If you can be a serious Maverick Hunter who thinks more about her job than boys, then..." I took her hand. _What am I doing?_ "I'll be your husband when this war is finally over." _I'm an idiot!_

She looked into my eyes.

"I thought you were gay."

"I-I'm bisexual."

"Just went from a 9 to a 10." She grabbed my arm. "It's a deal, X-ey!" she cried. "I'll be the greatest Navigator in the world so this war will end, so I'll get the be the greatest wife in the world sooner!" She kissed my cheak. "I won't flirt with _anybody_ until this war is over! I'll see you when I become a hunter, X-ey."

"Um, j-just call me X."

"Whatever you say, honey." She did a blow kiss and headed towards the window. "I'll be seeing you in a few years!" And with that, she was gone.

Once she was gone, a wide smile formed on my face. I plopped on my back onto the pod. As the lid was closing, I shouted out in pure and utter joy,

"This is fantastic! I've got a best friend, a future wife, a way that I can help people, this is absolutely fantastic! I have a purpose in life now!" The lid closed over me. "Look at me, Dr. Cain! Do you recognize me? Ha ha ha ha!" It completely closed, and I dosed off.

Yes, things were looking absolutely fantastic for me. Zero and I graduated from the Academy just a year after that, luckily the only problems we'd gotten were from Chill Penguin, but he didn't bother me as much anymore. Zero even managed to get in a relationship with Iris.

Yup, things in our lives were looking pretty good. But, the sun is most beautiful when it starts to set. It wasn't too long after we became official Hunters... ... that I lost everything.

 **So... In the next few chapters, I'll be retelling the OVA special 'Day of Sigma,' and the game 'Mega Man X.' {SPOILERS} But, is there really anybody reading this who has ever played these games? It'll be like another reboot where I'm making it my own while pointing out the flaws. Hope you enjoy :D**


	12. OVA: Day of Sigma Abridged

**Note: The rest of this story will be told in X's point of view, so I won't be featuring the parts in the OVA he wasn't there for. Also, from now on, this is a parody, so expect more cursing than before and my comedic ways of pointing out the plot holes. Don't worry, I'm still gonna proofread. Typos and bad grammar aren't funny, they're cringe worthy. Enjoy:**

"Arriving at drop-point in 45 seconds."

It had only been a month since I graduated from the Maverick Hunter Academy, and already I was heading out to the battlefield where I'd been told that they needed back-up. It felt good to be going into action and to not tremble.

"Arriving at drop-point."

"About time."

The door opened, allowing me to fall out of the hatch towards the city below. I pulled out my Buster and charged it up for a strong shot. When it finally charged, I screamed and released it at the berserk macanaloid directly below me, destroying it.

Feeling a little proud of myself, I leaned back and slid down a wall. My shot didn't seem to do crap to the thing, as it stood up immediately and started attacking the other Hunters. Chill Penguin's Shotgun Ice didn't do crap to it either.

"Zero, do you have a fix on the main generator?" Commander asked through the speakers.

"It's no good! It's too wild, I can't get close!"

"Commander, that thing is more dangerous than we thought," I said as I ran towards it. "I'll go back them up!"

I arrived in time to see it'd grabbed one of the Hunters. Like last time, my shot didn't do crap to it. Luckily, another Buster shot rang in the distance.

"I won't let you push my friends around like that!" my red friend roared as he shot it again, bringing it down to where its generator was in my shooting range.

"Hit the generator!" Penguin cried.

I held up my Buster towards the generator with a clear shot range, but there was just one problem: Another Hunter was being held up in front of it, making me hesitate.

"What're you doing, X!? Shoot the generator!"

"Stop yelling at me!"

Luckily, I didn't have to shoot it as the Commander charged in to break it with his saber, only at the price of the hostage's arm. To my relief, that was the only damage caused.

Several ambulances arrived shortly afterwards to repair the injured. I was walking through the rubble, my head lowered in shame.

"X!" Penguin called from behind me. "Why didn't you shoot!?"

"Chill Penguin, I... I..."

"Do you wanna know how much damage there could've been!?"

As if things couldn't've gotten even more embarrassing, Commander Sigma approached me. I could tell that a lecture was coming on...

"X."

"Y-yes, Commander?"

"Your aiming skills are no different than my own," he said. "You are aware that there is a very slim chance our compatriot would've hit by the blast, correct?"

I drooped my head in shame.

"Yes... Commander, I..."

"Listen well, X. We Maverick Hunters cannot hesitate to pull the trigger. We must become sword and shield to those we're assigned to protect, never forget that." And he just walked away, leaving me in my shame.

I felt my blond pony tailed friend place his ever warm hand on my shoulder, which always did soothe me. I sighed and shot him a sad smile of gratitude.

* * *

Once we'd gotten back to base, we saw our old purple college buddy being hauled into the brig. He and Zero glared at each other as he was walking by. Ha. If this was the Academy, they definitely would've name exchanged.

"... Do you think now that we've finally caught him we can take his helmet off?" I asked. "I really wanna see what he looks like, damn it!"

"You're free to see it if you can get that damn helmet off of him," Zero replied. The alarms went off, and he sighed. "Now what?" It was an alarm to report to a hearing in the control room.

"We've had a lot of macanaloid attacks over the last few weeks, and we recently discovered that the previous one had been controlled by an unknown source."

"So there was no one inside? It was being controlled remotely?"

"That's right."

"Wait a second, what about the macanaloid security program?"

"A system that complicated shouldn't be too easy to h-ACK."

"I don't know how, but someone completely managed to break down our security codes. The system has been camuflaged by a series of satylites. But we've managed to track hit it here, Able City-" {Blah blah blah, the author can't remember}

"You've gotta be kidding me! That's so close!"

"Does Commander Sigma know about this?"

"I've contacted him. X and Zero's team is to be dispatched immediately following a briefing, those are his orders."

"What team?" I asked. "There's only two of us-"

"Your team is to be dispatched immediately."

"Isn't it extremely risky to have only two Hunters who graduated from the Academy like, a month ago go out alone without any back-up what-so-ever?"

"YOU'RE GOING NOW!"

"... R-roger..."

* * *

To our utter horror, the Reploids in the old hide-out were completely broken with blood spilling out of their open wounds.

"Wh-what the fuck happened here!?"

* * *

"Status report," Commander Sigma said as he entered onto the scene.

Zero turned to face him. "Each blow was directed at a weak point. Whoever preformed this massacre must have really good combat skills."

My old friend Storm Eagle was outside with a group of other Hunters. "The culprit has taken his hacking data and fled the scene, he is now a fugitive." They left the scene. ... What? What do you want from me? This is what happened!

* * *

The next thing I knew, I was on a Chaser Bike riding alongside Zero towards another macanaloid.

"I can't believe it's gotten this bad."

"All of these berserk macanaloids, why do I get the feeling that they're just here to distract us?"

"Do you think whoever's behind this has a different goal in mind?"

Our communicators beeped.

"X, Zero, we have an emergency. The ex-Maverick Hunter Vile has just escape from his cell."

"Are you fucking shitting me!?"

"Report to the scene immediately."

"Uh, we're kinda busy going after another macanaloid who's probably causing a lot of people pain. Is there no one else there who can take care of him?"

"Report to the scene..."

"The macanaloid has probably killed a few guys, don't you think some Hunters who are more experienced than us take care of that guy?"

"REPORT BACK TO THE SCENE!"

"... R-roger..."

The scene was almost identical to the scene in the hacker's shack.

"Holy crap," I breathed. "... Are you serious? WHAT'S WITH ALL THE DISTURBING IMAGES!? THIS ISN'T MORTAL KOMBAT, THIS IS FUCKING MEGA MAN! KEEP IT PG, DAMN IT!"

"This canNOT be Vile's work," Zero said. "That looser doesn't have this fighting capability, all the blows were dirrected at weak spots-" He gasped. "J-just like in the shack..."

"So you think whoever made the macanaloids go berserk did it as a cover so he could spring Vile?"

Our communicators beeped.

"This is Zero, come in."

"We've managed to find the hacker's location. The macanaloids have been controlled from the missel base. I've tried contacting the others, but the signal's been disconnected. I haven't been able to make contact with Commander Sigma, either."

"Again, why are you only sending us out there?"

"Because you two are the best Hunters we have."

"But... but we just got here."

"Yes, and sadly, you're the best we have, now hurry up to the missel base."

"I'm sure this won't end with me being on the verge of death, and you getting your chest cut open!" I said.

"X! Spoiler alert!"

* * *

We found somebody in the base and cornered him.

"Don't move! Huh? C-Commander Sigma?"

Our Commander turned around. "Oh, so they sent you two. It looks like whoever was controlling the macanaloids was doing it from here."

We rushed past him to examine the computers.

"Commander, Base told us they were having trouble contacting you."

"Ah, yes... I had to deactivate my transmitter to remain cover." We didn't notice him pull out his saber. "Of course... none of that matters now..."

He lunged towards Zero.

"AH! Z-Zero, Commander!"

"... Impressive, ponytail, how'd you know?"

"Ha ha! You were easily the culprit. Each blow was directed at a weak point, not many Reploids have such perfect combat skills, that's why I was ready for your attack just now."

"Well, then how come you're not prepared for me to grab your head like this?"

"AUGH!"

I held up my Buster.

"C-Commander Sigma!? What're you doing!?"

"Now's your chance, X." He held Zero up in front of him. "If you really want to stop me, you'll have to shoot, destroying Zero in the progress. What're you waiting for? Shoot!"

... My trembling returned. _No! No no no! Why now!?_ I felt tears of frustration whell up in my eyes. _I haven't trembled like this in at least a year! Why am I trembling again now!?_

Sigma started laughing. "Of course, you don't have the spine to finish him off." He slashed his saber across the blond's chest.

"Z-Ze- AUK!"

He grabbed me by the throat, and pulled out a button.

"I told you. We can't hesitate to pull the trigger. You hesitated, and how it all comes down to this. One push of this button, and the city where you were raised will be destroyed along with the man who woke you up. Let them all die, or shoot me."

I held my Buster towards him. Even though my trembling had ceased, I couldn't shoot him. Everything in my Code was telling me that my innocence was worth more than the city. I dropped my arm, and disconnected it in shame.

He laughed again and tossed me across the room.

"... Why...?" I muttered as I struggled to get up. "Why are you doing this...?"

"For our future, X," he responded. "It's time that we Reploids stood alone."

"You set this all up from the start... Made the macanaloids go berserk... Caused the death and suffering of countless innocence... This is hurting Reploids just as much as it's hurting humans...!"

"Evolution requires sacrifice." He pressed the button. "Say goodbye to your father."

"...! NOOO!"

The missels fired towards the city, making it go up in flames. I could see it from miles away, I could hear the screams of the humans and Reploids, I could feel their pain.

Every ounce of pain made my blood pump and my circuits jolt from regret and anger as their screams continued to go through my ears. I let out a scream of morn and rage.

"YOU BASTARD!"

I lunged towards him, only to feel a sharp pain go through my stomach.

"... You brought this all upon yourself, X," he whispered to me. "Is this the end? Not at all. It is a whole new beginning. Don't worry, you're better off dead, rather than live and see how your friends from the Academy betrayed you."

My memory chip started replaying memories from my past. I could see an old man standing across from me, looking at me with caring eyes. _Who is this man? He looks so familiar... Why am I remembering him? Is... he my dad?_

Before my memory ended, I heard him whisper to me...

 _"You are humanity's last hope."_

That's when it hit me. I couldn't be so soft and expect to be a Maverick Hunter. I locked into my data and found my emotion base.

"... Compassion deleted." I screamed in anger as I lunged forward to punch the motherfucker in the face. I then jumped away from the saber that pierced my armor and dashed forward. "SIGMAAA!"

I grabbed his face and clawed it. Purple marks appeared on his eyes. What happened after that... I'm not sure. I blacked out.

When I came to, Zero explained to me that our 'leader' had gone Maverick. I knew it then... This was war.

 **Go watch the actual OVA, it was pretty cool. -fangirling- So, now I will be parodying Mega Man X1 and Maverick Hunter X. Now, before I get so much hate mail, I love MMX. Who doesn't? It's like, the greatest game of all time. But, it has its flaws, so I'm gonna point them out all in X's p.o.v. Review!**


	13. Mega Man X: Abridged part 1

**FYI, the dialogue will be ripped from Maverick Hunter X along with my own little tweeks. Enjoy:**

The alarms had gone off yet again, only this time I was called to a highway. It was severly damaged, and several enemies kept spawning to continue to destroy it. Guess who had to come clear them out?

It wasn't as bad as I remembered, if anything it was a little easy. All I had to do was charge up my Buster to shoot a charged shot constantly, and pick up any energy I could when my health was low.

I eventually reached the end of the highway where it seemed all of the machines had been cleared, when I came across a familiar non-existent face.

"Vile! I should've known you'd be involved in Sigma's rebellion!"

"Rebellion?" he quoted. "Ha ha ha ha... I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just here to cause trouble for you. I made you my rival, remember? Hope you're ready, X!"

"Ha! You're going down!"

About a minute later, my face was covered in bruises and a bump was over my eye.

"You thought it was safe to underestimate me? I hate this about you! I really should've chosen a better rival."

A Buster shot hit his armor's arm, causing him to let go of me. Relief rushed over me as Zero dashed onto the scene with his Buster up.

"X! Are you alright!?"

"Hello again, Rapunzel," Vile sneered. "That bet is long over, why are you still aligning yourself with someone like X?"

"Because I feel like it. You're just a Maverick, you don't have the right to question me."

He fired another another Buster shot, only for Vile to dodge and escape on the plane he had flown in on.

"... Where the fuck were you while I was clearing out this highway?"

Zero slowly turned around.

"Places..."

"Were you out banging Iris again?"

"Maaaybe..."

I sighed.

"Damn. I'm still not strong enough to defeat him..."

"You shouldn't expect to defeat him, he's designed to be a war machine. If we can get him out of that armor, then you might stand a chance. {EPIC FORSHADOWING} Anyways, we've just received a call from base. Eight Mavericks have been spotted around the city, two of which we went to the Academy with."

"So we have to take 'em out?"

"Nahh, just you."

"What? But... we just established that I'm a weak-ass Reploid, and you're assigning me to take down eight Mavericks _alone_? What're you gonna be doing throughout all of this?"

"... Stuff. Totally not going to bang Iris again..."

"Is there no one else who can help me?"

"Nope. You and I are pretty much the only relevant people here," he said with a shrug. "I'm gonna go do my 'stuff,' and we'll meet back up later." He started to walk away.

"... Zero," I called. "Thanks, you saved me again."

Too prided for a response, he dashed away from me.

I knew he was just being himself. He had matured quite a bit since we were at the Academy, and I sometimes forgot he was the same Reploid. The only thing that kept reminding me was his warmth, which always comforted me.

The first Maverick I decided to take on was Chill Penguin, because I had a bit of a score to settle with him from the first year at the Academy. And it was a good thing I did, as I found a weird capsule in there that displayed a hologram of a human.

"Wh-who the hell are you? You look... so familiar..."

"If I'm speaking to anyone, then I should hope for the best that it's my last creation: Mega Man X. I have prepared for you some armor parts that should assist you in your struggle. Everywhere. They'll be everywhere you go for the next, ten-to-eleven years."

"Uhh..."

"Enter this capsule to obtain the leg parts. These will give you the ability to dash."

"Um... O-okay? Who the hell was tha-"

I stepped into the capsule and felt an armor click onto my legs. When I stepped forward, my upper body leaned forward and my lower body shot backwards as I dashed forward, and I was able to stand up straight immediately once I had dashed. I dashed for at least twenty minutes straight, cheering as my Buster shot was stronger when I did.

"Ha ha! This is so cool!"

My joy soon came to a halt when I saw the door leading to Chill Penguin in front of me. Charging up my Buster, I headed inside with my eyes narrowed. The Reploid I used to be afraid of stood across from me.

"Chill Penguin! Why have you sided with Sigma!?"

"Sigma promised me the limbs of Reploids for me to cause the next Ice Age. I can relive my old childhood dream instead of wasting my life doing nothing. I'm actually surprised that somebody who fears me so much has decided to come stop me."

"I have long since stopped being afraid of you. And that's why I'm here, you wanna know how much torture you put me through at the Academy!? I still check my bed for ice because of you! I am gonna enjoy tearing you apart!"

And I did. Every second I spent shooting, I was smiling like a jackass.

"Hoo, that felt good..."

The next Maverick I decided to fight was Storm Eagle. He's not weak to Chill Penguin's Shotgun Ice, but trust me, it's easier to take him on next. There's a heart tank, sub tank, and capsule in there, and they make the game so much easier. Plus, mariannesinger16 cannot play the game without Storm Tornado, it's impossible. Storm Eagle also is a pretty easy Maverick, one I guess you'd wanna take on first, but I do not recommend going through his stage or Boss fight without the dash you get in Chill Penguin's stage. Another reason being, Storm Eagle was a friend of mine in the Academy, I wanted to know why he was doing this.

While ducking for cover from some enemies, I found the capsule from my creator.

"Enter this capsule to achieve the head part. This'll give you the ability to smash rocks with your head."

"Why would I ever need that?"

"To get some arm parts that can boost your Buster power in Spark Mandrill's stage."

"Then why didn't you hide them here?"

"Because you needed one sucky armor part."

"N-no I don't. If anything, shouldn't my head part allow me to shoot lasers, or something?"

"The head parts are always gonna suck."

"Th-then why make the-"

"Step into the fucking capsule!"

So after I obtained a useless ability, I found my old college friend at the top of the plane.

"Storm Eagle! Please tell me this is a trick! You're not the type of Reploid to do something like this! Answer me, Storm Eagle!"

"Forgive me, X. I... I must defeat you."

"... No... No...!"

I felt pained throughout the entire fight, even though he never landed a hit on me. I averted my eyes from his explosion, feeling regret for my actions. Before teleporting away, I walked over to the remains of his corpse and whispered,

"Goodbye, buddy..."

After I tried to get over the loss of my old friend, I decided to take on someone I wasn't too familiar with, Flame Mammoth, who was weak to the Storm Tornado.

"WHY THE FUCK IS THERE ICE IN HERE!?"

"Simple," Zero said through my speakers. "If you defeat Chill Penguin first, there's ice here instead of lava."

"... How?"

"I dunno. Look, just go defeat Flame Mammoth."

"No. I want an explination. This doesn't make any sense at all. How did the lava turn to ice after I defeated Chill Penguin?"

"Shut the hell up and go blow up a mammoth."

"That's not something I ever thought I'd hear somebody say..."

* * *

I eventually got to Flame Mammoth, it was extremely easy since the roads were made of ice, and I was not pleased when I finally got to him.

"Ha ha ha ha... I was wondering who would show up. I didn't expect a B-Class Hunter like you."

"What're you doing, Flame Mammoth!? Don't be stupid!"

"Bwah ha ha. There's nothing I enjoy more than pounding little shrimps like you."

"I, robot. You, dead."

 **I would've added some fight scenes, but really, I'd just be telling what happened during my fights with these guys. And yes, I am making this a parody/guide/. These will be coming out probably daily. I've got a lot of free time on my hands. Please review.**


	14. Mega Man X: Abridged part 2

I dash-jumped off of a ledge towards a rocky ceiling, and landed flat on my face. I walked back over to the ledge and did it again. Rince and repeat.

"X," Zero chimed through my speakers, "what're you doing?"

"Trying to- HRGH! Get a body armor part that my creator put out for me. HRAGH! Getting it is the head part's only purpose. AUGH! I ALMOST HAD THAT ONE! It'll let me charge my sho- YOU'RE FUCKING KIDDING ME!"

"Uh, you've been at this for like... Half an hour. Tell you what, assuming something happens to me, I'll give you a part that'll do pretty much the same thing."

"HRAGH! Thanks but- HRMP! I wanna put this damn head to use. HRGH!"

"Why didn't you decide to do that when we were in school?"

"Aheh heh heh... HRGH!"

"Come on! What if I die, and then as my final gift to you, I give you the weapon you use to beat Sigma, it'd be epic."

"HRRAH! That's extremely cliche, we're not doing that. HRMP- AU! YEAH! FUCK YEAH! FINALLY!" I cheered as I climbed up to the ledge with the armor parts.

* * *

"Hey uh, how am I supposed to get this sub tank?"

"You can't get it without Boomer Kuwanger's weapon."

"How am I supposed to get this heart tank?"

"Same thing."

"AAAAUUUGH! Oh, you are shitting me, a mini-boss!?"

* * *

"Spark. Mandrill," I stammered angrily. "I. Hate. Your fucking. Stage."

"Come fight me, then."

"I'm not gonna fight," I said. "I'm just gonna stand here and spam Shotgun Ice. Because that's all I need to do for you. SHOTGUN ICE! ... SHOTGUN ICE! ... SHOTGUN ICE! ... SHOTGUN ICE! ... SHOTGUN ICE!" He went down. "Aaauuugh, that was so hard!"

The next Maverick was Armored Armadillo, who's weak to the Electric Spark. I'd recommend going in there with both Storm Tornado and the Flame Thrower, because there's a machine in there that chases you, and its weakness is the Flame Thrower, and you need to destroy him to get a heart tank. Also, if you need to grind, come here with the Storm Tornado and hover around at the beginning of the stage. ENERGY. EVERYWHERE. And this was my favorite stage because the entire time, I was riding on a roller coaster in a mine going,

"WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

I was cheering like that, even when I jumped off of the coaster thing and landed in front of Armidillo's stage.

"Let me guess," I said, "you've gone Maverick, too?"

"What does it look like?"

I sighed.

"Sorry. I have to blow you up now."

His fight might kill you on your first few tries, but all you need to know... Don't spam Electric Spark too much!

The next Maverick for me to fight was Launch Octopus, who was weak against the Rolling Shield.

And, then I saw them. The things that we all fear. The things that I intend to avoid for as long as I live... Spikes.

"... AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" I actually tried running away, but there was no way for me to leave the stage. I turned back to the spikes and started gasping for my breath back. "I must do this, I must do this."

I avoided them with caution, but made the occasional 'eep' every time I came across a few.

"I hate my life..."

To my surprise, when I got caught in a whirlpool thing, I was tossed up towards a submarine that was shooting some types of bombs at me. I immediately started shooting at it until it exploded.

When it crashed, I found myself walking into a room with spikes in front of every platform, and a robotic eel swimming above my head.

"... Mommy..."

It actually wasn't that bad, I just had to spam the Storm Tornado and I won, while also making sure that that I don't land on the spikes. Also, there was a heart tank at the end of all that... So that's cool. When I climbed out of there, I saw that another eel was waiting for me at the top.

"You're kidding, another one!? This isn't what I signed up for!"

He was about as difficult as the last one, so I took him out in a few minutes. After that, Launch Octopus's door was right in front of me. With a gulp, I went through.

"Your antics stop here, Launch Octopus!"

"I only take orders from Sigma, I don't need to listen to you, blue boy."

"Face it, you bastard. You've gone Maverick, and that's all I really get to say in this game, really, I need to get a personality..."

"Maverick? How dare you call my artistic battle style by that name."

He was pretty tricky, but you could defeat him with the Rolling Shield in a few hits. And if you ran out of energy because of your missed shots thanks to the torpedos, the X-buster takes him out just fine if I do say so myself. Especially if it's fully charged.

The next Maverick for me to take on was Boomer Kuwanger, who was weak against the Homing Torpedo.

"How do I get this heart tank?"

"You need his weapon."

"Why do I need his weapon for everything!?"

"Who cares? This game makes no sense!"

His stage was actually pretty hard. To me, his stage feels like a final Maverick stage, but he's not the final Maverick. He can be, if you want to go in a different order than I'm going. His stage isn't too tricky if you know what you're doing. Eventually, I got to him.

"If you've made it all the way up here, you must not be an ordinary B-Class Hunter."

"Are you fu- I'm literally the only Reploid doing any work today! Zero, why are you not here helping me?"

"I'm working. What do you think I'm doing? Humping Iris with our armor still on?"

I facepalmed. "You know what? I'm tired, please don't make me fight. Just walk away, it'll make everything better for both of us."

"You don't want to fight, do you? Well, that's rather odd, as Maverick Hunters are Reploids designed for fighting."

I sighed. "It looks like I have to fight no matter what, huh?"

"Of course. A fight as fun as this doesn't come everyday."

He's probably the third easiest Maverick in this game. He'll get ahold of you and deal a decent amount of damage to you, but he's extremely easy, especially because Homing Torpedo has a lot of energy.

The final Maverick was Sting Chameleon, who was weak to the Boomer cutter, the cutterang, whatever the fuck its name is.

Chameleon's stage was pretty easy up until I got to a large green Reploid that seemed focused on attacking me, and didn't seem to hear me. He wasn't too hard, all I had to do was make sure all my attacks hit his head.

"Phew, that was tough-" A capsule sprouted from under my feet. "OH SHIT!"

"Enter this capsule, X, to obtain the body parts. This allows you to take 50% of normal damage."

"... That would've been nice to have seven stages ago."

* * *

"Nyah ha ha!" the Maverick laughed. "Poor wittle X... Everyone's betrayed you."

"Sting Chameleon! So Sigma's even managed to pull you into his scheme."

"That's Master Sigma to you, X. He'll be the new king when the world is conquered. Treat him with respect!"

"I don't think I wanna live in a world with him in charge."

Sting Chameleon is pretty easy. Just dash over to where he's hanging on the wall, and spam the boomerang. Spam the hell outta it. And that... was the last Maverick. ... I honestly wish I would've died there, because nothing any of those Mavericks could did to me... compared to what Sigma did to me that night.


	15. Mega Man X: Abridged part 3

**Final chapter, super long, review and enjoy :)**

After I'd defeated Sting Chameleon, I'd recieved a call from Zero informing me that he'd managed to find Sigma's fortress, and for me to report immediately.

"Hey, man! You just took on eight dangerous super-powered robots all on your own in one day without rest! How do you feel?" I fell over. "That's what I thought... So are you ready?"

"What the fuck were you doing this entire time? Why was nobody helping me? Why does Sigma have three fortresses?"

"... Don't ever try to bring logic into this game again!" He stomped on me.

"Ow."

"Now come on, let's break in. I'll keep the main defence force busy."

"Yeah, which is why I'm now going in to fight the main defense force on my own."

"Shut up, and let the player play the fucking game."

* * *

After a few minutes of struggling, I came across Launch Octopus again.

"OH, YOU ARE SHITTING ME, WE'RE DROPPING TO THE ULTIMATE CLICHE IN VIDEO GAMES TO HAVE A MOTHERFUCKING BOSS RUSH!? Rrrghh, let's get this fucking over with."

I had to fight them at random times, and really nothing much changed about them. The Mavericks who were a big deal, however, were the Mavericks at the end of the fortresses.

The first one was a pretty annoying spider who slides down some strings and opened its eye for a split second for you to hit it with the shotgun ice. He got faster and crazier every time you did, so it began to become a bit of a hassle. He also occasionally shot out baby spiders at you, and you can't avoid those, so expect to shoot immediately after you get hit.

The next one was this weird face thing. It would sometimes open up its eye, and the red or blue eyeball would come flying to hit me while shooting energy pellets at me. It was fairly easy to dodge. The other move was where the walls would close, and the nose would fly around trying to hit you while you had to continue to jump on the wall to not hit the spikes below you. I found it hard to hit it, but it was easy to dodge.

The final one was... I honestly don't know how to describe it without sounding incredibly stupid. It was this weird machine that kept charging at you, but its upper body would stay behind until it hit the wall behind me, and when it did, it would charge back at you for you to dash out of the way. It also occasionally shot a giant ball out at you, which you had to dash under (yeah, I got hit by that a lot the first time). It was weak to the boomerang thingy, and it wasn't _that_ bad.

Don't be shamed if you die to these things, they shave your health off pretty fast. (Yeah, in my first play through, I had to sit through Zero's death at least fifty times)

I kept running forward towards the final fortress, when I spotted a horrifying sight. Zero was on the floor with his armor cracked with blood streaming down his face, and his long hair had come out of the ponytail and was covering up most of his back.

"Z-Zero!?" I ran up to him, only to have a large purple ride armor drop down in between us. "Vile! You... You did this to Zero!" I charged up my Buster.

"Don't bother with that. You know you can't defeat me."

He was right... I couldn't. I shot him repeatedly, punched him with all my might, gave him everything I had... ... I couldn't win. For a second time, I was on the floor ready to be wiped out at any second when he grabbed me and started squeezing me.

"I guess destroying you here was all apart of Sigma's plan. I usually don't like following other people's plans..." He squeezed me again, to the point where blood followed my screams of pain. "But I'll make an exception this one time." Zero jumped onto him, causing him to let go of me. "Wha-!? Damn it, Rapunzel! Why won't you just die already!?"

Zero smirked.

"Okay." Light emitted from him. "But I have no intention of going alone."

He self destructed, taking with him Vile's ride armor. Unfortuneately, that's all he took away. Vile was then defenseless, ready for an open attack.

"Sorry, Rapunzel, but I don't do too well in a pair."

"...! ZEROOO!" My energy suddenly returned to me as I pulled out the Rolling Shield. I felt my eyes narrow and my pupils shrink as my tears evaporated, and I charged at him for a direct punch to the face with the Rolling Shield fully charged. "FUCK YOU, BUCKET HEAD!"

I punched him directly through the gut, putting a giant hole in it. That led to his explosion, which I turned away from completely unscathed. Realizing my best friend was still lying on the floor with only his torso remaining, I dropped my defenses and ran up to him, holding him up.

"Zero! R-relax, everything's gonna be okay, you're not gonna die here."

"Ha ha ha..."

I felt tears well up in my eyes.

"I-it's okay, buddy, you're gonna be alright. E-everything's gonna be fine."

The sabers man looked up at me with a kind smile and tired eyes, still lightly laughing.

"Who are you?"

"Huh? I-it's me, X."

"No. There's no way... you can be that dork... I met on the side of the road. Ha ha ha... Look at _me,_ always telling _you_ to be careful... Why didn't you ever tell me I was a dumbass?"

"S-stop talking, you're wasting your breath. H-here, I've got a Sub Tank! Please take it-"

"It's no use," he moaned. "I've taken serious damage... something like that won't help..." His smile broadened, and I swear I saw tears form in his sapphire eyes. "But you don't need me... Ha ha... You're not the same loser... who would chase me around... back at the Academy."

"Zero..."

He gently cupped my face, soothing me. I grabbed his hand, as if I was gripping his life, and a tight grip would keep him and his warmth with me.

"... I guess... you don't need your big brother anymore, huh?"

A fresh pool of tears formed in my eyes.

"W-we were brothers?"

"Ha ha... I have... nothing left to give you... and there's... no way you could... make me anymore proud than I am right now..." His smile broadened, and the tears of joy escaped him. "Go forth... Maverick Hunter X..."

His hand slid off of my face, and out of my hand. My eyes widened in horror as his arm fell onto the ground, and his eyes closed slowly. His warmth was gone. All that was in my arms was the empty shell of the only Reploid I would call my friend. That stupid grin was still on his face.

"... Z-Zero..."

I never let go of the corpse when my head slowly jerked towards the ceiling. Screams of regret and anger escaped my throat as waterfalls of pain rained down my face. My hands formed fists. I turned my head towards the door Sigma was behind with my eyes narrowed down to my nose, grunting to hold my screams in my throat.

"SIGMA...!" I shot down the door with my tears still staining my face. "SIGMA...!" I stood up and dashed through the door, charging up my Buster as much as I could. "SIGMAAA!"

The Maverick Emperor slowly walked in with a smug grin on his face, followed by a purple mechanical wolf.

"... I see a new type of clarity in your eyes. That's a type of look I didn't see in the Academy from anybody."

"Shut the fuck up about the Academy...! I'm here to kill you...!"

"Ha ha. So you're ready to face me, are you? Well, try this on for size first."

The wolf came at me. The wolf's weak to Shotgun Ice, and his pattern really isn't hard. I don't blame you if you die the first time, but after your first few tries, he's pretty easy. {Fuck this dog}

"Hmm. You were never the best student, but I can see you had potential that the best student obviously saw in you."

"I'M THE ONLY ONE WHO'S BEEN DOING ANY FUCKING WORK TODAY! DO YOU THINK I'VE BEEN HAVING FUN!? WELL WHOEVER'S PLAYING THIE FUCKING GAME IS! I'M SURE MY MISERY BRINGS THOUSANDS OF SMILES TO HUMANS ACROSS THE GLOBE! SO IT'S TIME TO GIVE THEM WHAT WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR, AND FUCKING KILL YOU!"

"... Calm down-"

"I WILL NOT CALM DOWN! I HAVE BEEN THROUGH SHIT TODAY, PEOPLE! I have been through shi-hi-hit...! Whatever, let's just go through the final boss already."

Sigma charged at me. He's weak against the Electric Spark, and all you have to do is jump up the wall and wait for him to come to you. When he's one hop away from you, jump down and shoot him. This'll take a while, but if you have the patience, then Sigma's pretty easy. At least his first form is...

When the explosion came, I thought it was over. When have my thougths ever been right? Once he was down, his head floated up towards the ceiling into a giant mechanical dog monster that was shooting lightning and fire at you. With my eyes wide and bulging, I gulped down some energy.

This was the hardest boss fight in the entire fucking game. But after you play through it a few times and get really good at it, it's a blast. I had the time of my life, and I can clearly see why this would be your favorite (or most feared) boss in the game.

Explosions consumed the armor. I turned around, not wanting to look at it. Without a word, I teleported out of the room.

I stood over the cliff side as I watched the entirety of the fortress fade away into the ocean. Exhausted, I fell to my knees and gazed over the destruction I'd helped caused. Everything that had happened that day had finally taken its toll on me.

The people I went to the Maverick Hunter Academy with had betrayed me, causing me to have to fight them and put them to rest. My best friend, no, my only friend, no... my big brother, who gave me a purpose, and taught me emotions, died in my arms. And I had to undergo all of this alone. The pain all came to me that very moment like an arrow to the chest.

 _... No... I won't cry. I'm done with that!_ I stood up, and my tears evaporated before they even shed. _I didn't choose this path, but I won't change it. No matter what it takes..._ "I'm ending this war. ... How long will it take? How long will I keep fighting? How long will this pain last?" I looked down at my Buster. "Only my X-Buster knows..."

I road off into the night on my Chaser Bike. For old time's sake, I decided to ride from that old apartment building that still hadn't been rebuilt to the Maverick Hunter Academy.

Old nostalgic memories of clinging onto Zero passed by as I road down that street. Visions of me fleeing from Chill Penguin and avoiding that yandere Alia flashed across my eyes as I pulled up into the driveway of the Academy. A weak smile plastered its way onto my face, and I had this bubbling feeling in my gut as I stared at the old school.

 _... No, don't cry. Not even tears of joy._

The bells rang, and the students of the Academy walked out. My smile deepened when I saw myself in each of them... They would grow strong... Maybe even as strong as I currently am.

Then I saw her. Alia. The only reason I had left to live. If I could end this... then she would be my bride. She scared me a bit, but it was worth it.

Thinking of her made me remember Iris... How would she take Zero's death? She'd kill me for letting him die. Well, it technically wasn't my fault, and she was a pretty sweet girl, but...

I sighed and decided to tell her in the morning.

I got on my Chaser Bike and road past my future wife, making her short blond hair come out of her bun and letting it fly through the win. Alia stared in the direction I was going for a while, then smiled softly.

"You'd better not forget our promise, you bad boy," she said.

This was it. This was the beginning of my new life. It would hurt, but I would endure it. ... I promised myself I would never cry again.

 **Sooo... I kinda wanna continue this where I retell the entirety of the X series and point of the flaws... Would you like to see that? (Who am I kidding, I just wanna make a parody series with Axl in it) Anyways, thanks for reading, this is FINALLY complete.**

 **I wanted to make Zero's death scene dramatic, did I make you cry? Please tell!**

 **And, despite the way I wrote this story, I do love the game Mega Man X. It's my absolute favorite game. Please tell me what you thought of this story, and have a blessed day :)**


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